Our Correspondent :
‘There are no signs of stopping the Covid epidemic situation. Even then, significant progress has been made in the construction of the Rooppur nuclear power plant which is visible today. ‘Science and Technology Minister Architect Yafes Osman confirmed the progress of the work to The New Nation by telephone, adding that work on the project was also underway on Eid-ul-Azha last Wednesday. The first unit is expected to be equipped with a nuclear reactor by September 16.
The Minister said that the construction work of the first unit has been progressing smoothly along with the progress of the construction work of the first unit as per the guideline in the Corona epidemic for more than a year now. Since the beginning of the epidemic, local and foreign workers have been working in the Rooppur project in compliance with the health rules. The work was not stopped for a day. We have already taken steps to bring everyone working on the project under ticker. Sputnik V vaccines are being given to local officials and engineers in cooperation with Russia. Everyone will be vaccinated in phases.
Project Director. Shaukat Akbar said construction work was progressing as per schedule, adding that the reactor power vessel of the second unit would reach the water border of Bangladesh by the end of this month. He said the overall work progress of the project is 37 percent and the construction of the plant is 38.65 percent. The construction work of the reactor building of the first unit is going on after the completion of 30 meters of work including casting from minus 8.45 m to minus 5.45 m below the surface. Surface work will be upgraded to 61 meters by the end of this month.
He added that 25-30 thousand workers are working every day under the contractors. Special attention is being paid to the health protection of the workers. Every employee is being tested twice a day. In addition to vaccination and medical assistance, an isolation center has also been opened in Green City, he said.
Engineer Ashraful Islam, site director of the project, said that the work of the project was not stopped even on the day of Eid on July 21. He said that two hydro accumulators have been installed in the first unit on the day of Eid. Subsequently, on 24th July, the lower part of the dome of the reactor building of the 1st unit was installed and now the height of the upper surface of the inner containment wall has been increased from 44 meters to 51.7 meters.
According to the Russian design, the construction work of two units of third plus generation VVR and 1,200 MW at Rooppur in Ishwardi is going on simultaneously with the highest priority on health protection system in the country’s first and largest nuclear power project. In 2023, Unit-1 and in 2024, Unit-2 are expected to supply electricity to the national grid.
