Bangladesh has formally begun work on its first nuclear power plant.
The heads of Rosatom subsidiary NIAEP and the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission signed a construction contract Wednesday, Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported. Russia, which controls Rosatom, has agreed to lend $500 million for the project in Rooppur, northwest of Dhaka. The same day, international media also reported that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina laid a symbolic foundation stone at the site.
According to the World Nuclear Association, Bangladesh has envisioned a nuclear plant at Rooppur since the early 1960s. After considering similar proposals from China and South Korea, Bangladeshi authorities signed an agreement with Russia in 2009 that would pave the way for construction of two 1,000 megawatt AES-92 reactors. Russian firms would build and operate the plant, as well as provide it with fuel and spent-fuel processing. The new units are sorely needed. At present, Bangladesh's modest power generation capacity from natural gas plants leaves more than half of the country's population without electricity and is cited as a roadblock to economic development.