Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday officially opened the installation ceremony of the reactor pressure vessel for the Ruppur nuclear power plant being constructed by Russia in this South Asian country. She said the installation of the reactor vessel is an important event both for Bangladesh and for herself.
"Today is a very important day for us. The day is important not only for Bangladesh, but also for me," the prime minister said as she witnessed the installation work via videoconference. The prime minister also watched live the process of completing the installation of the reactor vessel. Bangladeshi television channels streamed the ceremony live.
Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev, who was present at the site, said in his speech that the Russian side has done everything to ensure that, despite the pandemic, work on the construction of the nuclear power plant continues. "We are doing everything to ensure that work at the construction site does not stop for even a minute. "I want to assure you, Madam prime minister, and the entire people of the Republic of Bangladesh, that the construction of the Ruppur NPP is one of Rosatom's most important tasks, our unconditional priority," Likhachev said.
As Rosatom earlier said, the installation of the reactor pressure vessel in the designed position is a key event in the construction of the nuclear power plant unit. After the installation of the reactor vessel is completed, the countdown to the stage of physical start-up - the start of loading the nuclear fuel into the reactor - begins.
The country's first nuclear power plant, Ruppur, is being built on the eastern bank of the Padma River, 160 km from the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka. The plant is being designed and built according to the Russian generation 3+ design. The facility is being designed and built by Rosatom's engineering division. The power plant will consist of two power generating units with VVER-1200-type reactors, which have a 60-year lifecycle and may be extended for another 20 years. Construction of the first and second power units is currently underway.
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Photo: Jason DeCrow / AP / TASS
Based on materials from TASS