Under extraordinary security arrangements, the first shipment of uranium, the nuclear fuel for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, has landed in Pabna.
The Pabna police superintendent, Akbar Ali Munsi, confirmed the news and stated that the first shipment of uranium arrived here on Friday about 1:15 p.m.
He claimed that the motorcade transporting the uranium partially broke down due to a mechanical issue in Gazipur but started moving again at around 7am after it was fixed.
The SP stated that as part of the security measures, more law enforcement officials were deployed on the Dhaka-Pabna route and check stations were also put up at strategic locations. The SP further added that vehicular traffic on the route was remained suspended.
According to Akbar Ali, the responsible authorities were requested to maintain the suspension of vehicular movement on the highway due to the security concern as the route routinely experiences traffic jams.
However, he claimed that in order to prevent suffering, the drivers of the vehicles using the highway were instructed to use alternate Aricha-Kazirhat routes.
Earlier on Thursday, a special air cargo from Russia delivered the first shipment of new uranium for the Rooppur nuclear power plant’s first unit to the airport in Dhaka.
Aleksey Likhachev, the director general of the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, will formally deliver the fuel to the project manager for the Rooppur project on October 5, according to official sources.
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina are anticipated to virtually attend the event.
The fuel was created at the Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant (NCCP), a division of Tevel, Rosatom’s fuel producer, in Russia.
The construction of the 2400 MW Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP), which consists of two units with a combined capacity of 1200 MW, has been undertaken by Rosatom as a Russian contractor.
The government intends to commission the first unit of the RNPP in September of this year and the second unit in the middle of 2025, according to project officials.
