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An additional 1200 megawatt (MW) of power could be generated through a nuclear power plant and the country's crying need of electricity could be eased within a short period of time, atomic energy experts said, reports BSS.
Officials at the Nuclear Power and Energy Division of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) said that the country could produce 1200MW power from a nuclear power plant within four to five years if a nuclear power generation project is undertaken.
They said the country could set up a nuclear reactor with 600MW electricity generation capacity that was estimated at a cost of about one billion dollar in the pre-located site at Rooppur in Pabna.
After the completion of work on the first reactor, another reactor could be set up at the same site of same power generation capacity with half the cost due to all pre-infrastructure support.
In April 2005, China and Bangladesh signed an agreement on nuclear cooperation. Under the agreement, Bangladesh is to receive Chinese assistance in exploring nuclear materials and construction of nuclear power plant, sources said.
The country's nuclear power project was first conceived in 1961. Later, a site was selected in Rooppur on the basis of internationally accepted criteria and the local requirements. Land measuring about 105.22 hectares (2306 acres) for the plant site and 13.35 hectares (33 acres) for the residential area was acquired for the project.
Both before and after the liberation, the government on several occasions approved the nuclear power project and a number of suppliers from different countries including the USA, the USSR, the UK, Switzerland, Belgium and Germany had submitted proposals. But the project could not be implemented due to several problems including dearth of fund as the main obstacle.
Experts observed that a country like Bangladesh with limited domestic fossil resources or with resources distant from demand centres, nuclear power offers a proven and economically viable option for base load electricity generation.
Presently the country uses around 2.4 million tonnes of petroleum, almost the entire amount of which is imported and our gas reserve is also declining. At the projected rate of consumption, the gas deposit may be exhausted by 2015. Gas turbine for electricity generation will not be feasible in the near future, they added.
Experts also indicated that the initial cost of a nuclear plant is double than that of a conventional gas-burned plant but the annual fuel cost of a nuclear power plant was much lower than that of a conventional gas-burned plant.
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