The second consignment of uranium for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) arrived in Dhaka on Thursday from Russia, just a week after the arrival of the first consignment on September 28.
Officials concerned of the Ministry of Science and Technology said, a special flight carrying the second shipment of uranium from Russia arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at around 12:00 pm.
“The uranium will be shifted to the RNPP site by road with the highest security as usual,” an official said.
Meanwhile, the uranium was officially handed over to the RNPP authorities on Thursday afternoon by the Director General of the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (ROSATOM), Alexei Likhachev.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Russian President Vladimir Putin joined the handover ceremony virtually.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi also joined the event virtually.
Officials concerned said, five more consignments of uranium will arrive in the country in phases. After the arrival of five more shipments, nuclear fuel will continue to arrive in phases.
Each of the shipments contains 12 bundles and each bundle weighs 7.5 kilogrammes of uranium, they said.
Rooppur power station has been upgraded to a nuclear facility.
The two units of the RNPP have a production capacity of 1200 MW per unit. Project Director Shaukat Akbar said that 90% of the work of the first unit has been completed. The progress of the second unit is 70 percent, he added.
He said that the first unit will be fully ready for fuel installation by next April. Uranium fuel will be installed once the transmission line is completed.
The project director also said that trial production will begin in September next year.
In the first phase, 20 percent electricity will be produced. After the success of the first phase, 50 percent and 70 percent will be phased and the final phase will go into full production. It usually takes 10 months to go through these stages. Commercial production will begin in early 2025.
