BD, Russia approve draft deal on spent fuel management 

Bangladesh and Russia will sign the much-talked about agreement on spent fuel management for Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) by July this year.
"After a detailed negotiation, both sides reached a consensus on the issue," Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) chairman Dr Engr Md Monzurul Haque told The Daily Observer on Saturday.
Meanwhile, it is mandatory to take Russian Parliament's approval before signing the deal. However, the bill will be placed before the parliament in the upcoming session.
On March 15, Bangladesh and Russia approved and initialed the draft of the agreement on spent fuel management in Dhaka and discussed various issues relating to the agreement.
Chairman of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (BAERA) Naiyyum Choudhury, Chairman of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) Dr Engr Md Monzurul Haque, Deputy CEO of State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM Nikolay Spassky, Deputy Head of the Federal Environmental, Industrial and Nuclear Supervision Service of Russia (Rostekhnadzor) Alexander Ignatov initiated the draft.
Russian Ambassador to Bangladesh Alexey Ferapontov, ASE Group of Companies, the general contractor of the project and senior officials were present.
Bangladesh is going to build a nuclear power plant, using uranium 235 as the reactor fuel at the proposed plant. However, the waste products of uranium can become dangerous and fatal.
Earlier, Russia agreed to remove the spent fuel of the reactors and take back the highly radioactive rods once they have completed their 'life-cycle' to their country safely from the proposed Rooppur nuclear power plant. They now want to sign an agreement on 'importing spent fuel from Bangladesh,' according to the sources in the Ministry of Science and Technology.
"We will fix the modality of the agreement and the carrying cost of spent fuel will be discussed in a meeting in Russia, which is scheduled to be held in June-July," a senior official of BAEC said.
This shifting position of Moscow will increase the cost of the proposed Rooppur nuclear power project, which is a $US 13 billion plus project, according to the sources in the Science and Technology Ministry.
A special working group has been formed to ensure current cooperation involving regulators from both the countries, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) and ASE Group of Companies, the official added.