In a first, India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Russia to build a power plant in Bangladesh.
India's Department of Atomic Energy, Russia's State Atomic Energy Corporation, Rosatom and Bangladesh's Ministry of Science and Technology signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Moscow to cooperate in building the Rooppur nuclear power project in Bangladesh.
Rosatom, which is building the plant in Bangladesh on a “turnkey” basis, will consult Indian and Bangladeshi experts over design, production and supply of equipment, construction, installation, start-up and commissioning of the plant. The parties, in particular, will cooperate over personnel training, exchange of experience and consulting support. Indian companies can be involved in construction and installation works, supply of materials and equipments of non-critical category.
The MoU was signed by Indian ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran, Rosatom's deputy director-general for international relations Nikolay Spassky and Bangladesh's ambassador to Russia S.M. Saiful Hoque.
"Today was a landmark event for our countries – and the industry as a whole,” said Nikolay Spassky. “We are confident that this is the first step towards the formation of a new, forward-looking cooperation agenda in the region. Rosatom is a global company and a world leader in the peaceful use of nuclear energy. We are open to cooperation in the framework of our projects. The signing of the memorandum is another illustration of our approach.”
The Rooppur plant will consist of two units with Russian-designed WWER reactors of 1,200 MW each. The site of the Rooppur NPP is located on the bank of the Padma river in Pabna district, about 160 kilometers from Dhaka.