The pouring of concrete for the foundation of the turbine building at unit 2 of the Rooppur nuclear power plant under construction in Bangladesh was completed yesterday. The foundation for the turbine hall of Rooppur 1 was completed earlier this year.
Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom in February 2011 signed an agreement for two 1000 MWe-class reactors to be built at Rooppur for the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC). The 1200 MWe VVER-1200 reactor model was subsequently selected for Rooppur, on the eastern bank of the river Ganges in Pabna district about 160 kilometres northwest of Dhaka. The initial contract for the project, worth USD12.65 billion, was signed in December 2015. The general contractor for the project is AtomStroyExport (ASE), Rosatom's engineering subsidiary.
First concrete for the nuclear island of unit 1 was poured in November 2017, while that of unit 2 was poured in July 2018.
ASE has announced that concreting works for the foundation of the turbine hall for unit 2 was completed yesterday. The foundation structure comprises 3782 tonnes of steel rebars and 23,550 cubic meters of concrete.
Preparations have now begun at the site for the erection of the walls of the turbine building of unit 2, ASE said.
The foundation for unit 1, with 3813 tonnes of rebars and 24,285 cubic metres of concrete, was completed on 30 January this year.
Rooppur unit 1 is scheduled to begin operation in 2023, with unit 2 following in 2024.
Yesterday, Rosatom announced that a ceremony was held to mark the exchange of documents between Russian nuclear fuel manufacturer TVEL JSC and BAEC finalising a contract signed in late 2018 for the supply of fuel for the Rooppur plant.
Bangladesh, which has a population of 160 million, plans to produce 9% of its electricity from nuclear power and reduce its dependence on fossil fuels by the middle of the next decade.
The VVER-1200 reactor design has already been implemented at Novovoronezh II in Russia, where the first unit of that design - a development from the VVER-1000 - entered commercial operation in February 2017.
