Uranium shipment reaches Rooppur under tight security

PABNA, Oct 03: Amid tight security, a uranium shipment for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant arrived at the project site in Ishwardi on Saturday.

The convoy carrying the uranium entered the project site around 11:20am.

The process of bringing in the nuclear fuel required for refuelling the plant's first unit is also progressing.

The shipment arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport from Russia at 11:45pm on Friday and left for Rooppur by road at 7:15am on Saturday under special security arrangements.

Rooppur Project Director Dr Kabir Hossain and Nuclear Power Plant Company Bangladesh Limited (NPCBL) Managing Director Dr Zahedul Hassan, among others, received the shipment.

A special cargo plane carrying the uranium reached Bangladesh after making stops in Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. The fuel was originally scheduled to arrive on Thursday, but the schedule was delayed and later adjusted again.

To ensure safety and prevent traffic congestion, authorities regulated vehicular movement on the Dhaka-Pabna highway.

Pranab Kumar, additional superintendent of police (Ishwardi Circle), said Pabna District Police and other law enforcement agencies maintained a special security perimeter along the route to ensure the safe arrival of the uranium.

He said authorities halted the movement of vehicles on the Pabna-Natore-Kushtia highway to prevent traffic congestion. Traffic movement returned to normal after the uranium arrived.

According to the plan, an additional 48 uranium assemblies for the first unit and 163 for the second unit will arrive in Bangladesh on nine more flights by next December. The shipments will travel from Russia through Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India.

Sources said the nuclear fuel will be transported in nine cargo shipments - seven for the second unit and two for refuelling the first unit. Russia's state nuclear energy corporation, Rosatom, said the entire fuel supply process is scheduled to be completed by December.