70 percent of the first unit of Rooppur nuclear power plant in Pabna has been completed. And the work of the second unit has been completed 48 percent. The first unit of the power plant will go into production by the end of next year. However, when the electricity will go to the national grid will depend on when the transmission line will be installed.

On Tuesday, the people involved in the project came to see the progress of Rooppur nuclear power plant and gave this information. The installation of the reactor pressure vessel (nuclear reactor) of the second unit of the power plant will be officially inaugurated tomorrow.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will formally inaugurate the installation of the reactor pressure vessel by connecting virtually from Gana Bhavan around 10 am. Earlier on October 10 last year, he inaugurated the installation of reactor pressure vessel of the first unit. Alexey Likhachev Agamakil, Director General of Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom), which helped build the power plant, will attend the opening ceremony in Rooppur.

Today, Minister of Science and Technology Architect Yafes Osman spoke to reporters after seeing the progress of the country’s first nuclear power plant. Pointing out that production will start from the power plant by 2023, he said, “Our job is to produce.” Those who will buy that electricity, the extent of their transmission line work will depend on when that electricity will be added to the national grid.

Yafes Osman is hopeful that the construction of the project will be completed within the specified time and budget. It was questioned whether the project would be delayed due to the Russia-Ukraine war, and whether there would be problems in repaying the loan taken from Russia for the project. In response, the minister said that the financial institutions of Russia and Bangladesh are working on whether the loan taken from them will be paid in dollars, rubles or any other currency. There is a mentality and instructions to give concessions in this regard from the top level of Bangladesh government.

There are no human settlements around nuclear power plants. But there are nearby settlements around the project area—when questioned by journalists, Minister Yafes Osman said representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IEA) had visited the project area. They did not object to this.