N-POWER PROJECT : Dhaka, Moscow initial final contract [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

N-POWER PROJECT : Dhaka, Moscow initial final contract

Local December 16, 2015

Dhaka and Moscow on Tuesday initialled general contract for the construction, commission and operation of the proposed Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Pabna at a cost of $11 billion.
The contract was initialled between Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission and Atomostroyexport, the contractor appointed by Russian state atomic corporation Rosatom, in presence of science and technology minister Yeafesh Osman and Rosatom’s chief executive officer Sergey Kirienko.
Sergey Kirienko, also former prime minister of Russia, called on prime minister Sheikh Hasina before he joined the programme at the commission headquarters at Agargaon, Yeafesh told New Age.
He said that Bangladesh would become the 32nd country to have nuclear technology for peaceful use.
Both the sides were expecting to sign the deal by March 2016 for the country’s biggest project in terms of investment, officials said.
Nuclear Power Plant Company Bangladesh Ltd managing director Shawkat Akbar, also the project director, said that the event of initialling the contract was the ‘first step’ towards materialising the project conceived more than 50 years ago.
According to the plan, first unit of the power plant with 1,200MW capacity would begin electricity supply in 2021, the year when the nation would observe the golden jubilee of its independence, said Yeafesh.
He also said that the second unit with same capacity would come into operation in 2022.
During the call on, Hasina asked Kirienko about the safety measures of the nuclear project and Kirienko replied that management of spent fuel was the main risk factor of such projects, officials said.
Kirienko assured Hainsa that the spent fuel would not cause any risk in Bangladesh as Russia would take back the spent fuel, the officials said.
While explaining different financial aspects of the project, Shawkat said that the project cost was estimated at $10.05 billion and additional cost was estimated at $950 million.
He said that $1.65 billion was estimated as price escalation considering London Interbank Offered Rate plus 1.75 per cent interest rate on the Russian state credit, $10 billion.
Bangladesh would need to pay back in 28 to 29 years with a grace period, yet to be finalised.
The Russian credit would come into effect in September 2016, officials said.
Shawkat said that the additional costs included the costs for transportation of the equipment and materials, construction of jetty and other facilities, soil stabilisation at the project site, additional training, development of radiation monitoring and emergency response facilities and construction of associate infrastructures.
He also said that the cost for fuel supply, and operation and maintenance of the power plant for a certain period was also included in the general contract.
Atomostroyexport and its subsidiaries are now developing the project site and manufacturing equipments aiming at beginning the installation of the first nuclear reactor in 2017.
On November 3, 2011, Bangladesh and Russia signed an agreement for the installation of the nuclear power plant.