Rooppur Nuclear Fuel Flight Delayed Over Airspace Clearance

The delivery of uranium fuel from Russia for the second unit of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant has been delayed after a cargo flight scheduled to bring the consignment to Bangladesh on 24 September could not operate as planned due to an airspace clearance issue.

The consignment was scheduled to arrive in Bangladesh on 24 September. However, the cargo aircraft carrying the uranium could not make the journey as it did not receive the required permission to use Pakistan's airspace.

Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology and Science and Technology Fakir Mahbub Anam said the aircraft carrying the nuclear fuel was scheduled to arrive in Bangladesh on 24 September but could not operate as planned.

He said the exact reason for the lack of airspace clearance was not yet known.

The minister said a new date had been proposed for transporting the consignment, while Russia indicated that the fuel could reach Bangladesh in the first week of October.

Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology Sheikh Mohammad Tauhidul Islam said all preparations had been completed at the airport to receive the fuel.

Later, a liaison officer of Russia's state nuclear agency Rosatom informed officials that the required airspace clearance had not been obtained, preventing the shipment from being transported on schedule.

He said a new schedule might have to be arranged.

Bangladeshi officials, however, could not confirm with certainty which country's permission was required and had not been obtained, preventing the aircraft from following its planned route.

Bangladesh's first nuclear power plant, the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, is being built on the banks of the Padma River in Rooppur, Pabna's Ishwardi upazila. The project is being implemented with technical assistance from Rosatom and under the supervision of the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission.

The plant consists of two third-generation VVER-1200 reactor units with a combined generation capacity of 2,400 megawatts.

The first consignment of low-enriched uranium fuel for the first unit arrived in Bangladesh from Russia in October 2023. A total of 164 new fuel assemblies produced at Rosatom's Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant were transported to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on a Russian cargo aircraft.

The fuel was subsequently transported to the Rooppur project site through a secured "green corridor" in radiation-resistant containers, with members of the Bangladesh Army and law enforcement agencies providing security.

Fuel loading at the first unit of the Rooppur plant began in April this year, marking another step towards starting power generation from the facility.