Hydraulic tests completed at Bangladesh's Rooppur 1

Thursday, 20 March 2025

The two-unit Rooppur nuclear energy plant will be Bangladesh's first. It will feature two VVER-1200 reactors, being built by Russia's Rosatom.

Hydraulic 24.5 MPa tests include filling the primary circuit with water, achieving the required pressure and temperature and preparing the main and adjacent systems, with specialists checking equipment status to ensure everything is in line with design requirements and international safety standards. An automated process control system was put into operation during the hydraulic tests.

Alexey Deriy, ASE JSC vice president for projects in Bangladesh, said: "The hydraulic tests successfully completed at the Rooppur NPP power unit 1 confirms the high level of quality and safety of our project. This is a significant stage that brings us closer to the next important step - the hot run of the reactor plant. We are confident that the plant will become a reliable source of energy for Bangladesh for decades to come."

Rosatom in February 2011 signed an agreement for two reactors to be built at Rooppur, about 160 kilometres from the capital Dhaka, for the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission. The initial contract for the project, worth USD12.65 billion, was signed in December 2015. The Bangladesh Atomic Regulatory Authority issued the first site licence for the Rooppur plant in June 2016, allowing preliminary site works, including geological surveys, to begin. Construction of the first unit began in November 2017. Construction of the second unit began in July 2018. They have an initial life-cycle of 60 years, with a further 20-year extension possible.

The first batch of nuclear fuel was delivered to the site in October 2023 - the moment that the site got its status as a nuclear facility. Rosatom says that grid connection for Rooppur unit 1 is one of its key targets for the current year.