Bangladesh’s first nuclear power plant is facing an indefinite delay to the commissioning of its first reactor after engineers failed to resolve problems with a key safety valve, said Science and Technology Minister Fakir Mahbub Anam.
Unit 1 of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant has been unable to complete a critical test because two pairs of pilot-operated relief valves (PORVs) have failed to function properly, despite attempts by Russian and Bangladeshi nuclear specialists to rectify the problem over one and half month.
Fakir Mahbub Anam, also post and telecommunications minister, said the government had hoped to begin supplying about 300MW of electricity to the national grid within four to six months after nuclear fuel loading at the unit on April 28, 2026.
“We have a plan to supply 300MW of electricity to the national grid within the next four to six months,” he told Just Energy News at a press briefing at the ICT Ministry Conference Room in the capital.
“But we have failed to achieve the critical test because two pairs of PORVs were not working despite attempts by Rosatom’s chief designer.”
He said resolving the problem would take time but added that the government was “not in a hurry” to compromise safety.
The minister said the plant was behind schedule because of the faulty valves and that the government had discussed the issue with senior officials at Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy corporation.
The commissioning of Rooppur is being closely watched by the government as the plant is expected to help ease Bangladesh’s electricity and gas shortages.
“We have nothing to hide,” Anam said. “If necessary, we will replace the Unit-1 safety valve with the corresponding valve from Unit-2, or Rosatom will manufacture the valve as quickly as possible.”
A senior Russian technical team is expected to travel to Bangladesh shortly to assess the problem, the minister said.
If the valve cannot be repaired or replaced, Unit 1 could face a further delay to commissioning, officials said.
Rehan Asif Asad, the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, and Md. Mamunur Rashid Bhuiyan, Secretary of the Information and Communication Technology Department, also attended the conference.
Technically complex problem
The Russian contractor, JSC ASE, part of Rosatom, has told Bangladeshi officials that the problem is technically complex. The PORV is a plant-specific component and cannot simply be purchased from the open market and replaced, officials said.
The difficulties have also raised concerns about the timetable for Unit 2. Officials said any further delay to Unit 1 could have a knock-on effect on the second reactor, which is already behind schedule.
The issue was discussed at a meeting between Bangladesh’s Ministry of Science and Technology and Russia’s ambassador to Bangladesh, Alexander Khozin, at the Bangladesh Secretariat in Dhaka on 17 August. Senior policymakers and officials attended the meeting.
According to the official record of discussions, tests on the Unit 1 pressuriser PORV had failed several times over a period of five weeks. The manufacturer’s chief designer was reported to be at the Rooppur site attempting to resolve the problem.
Russian officials said the valve was unique to the plant’s design and that deploying additional Russian designers would not necessarily produce a different result. With no suitable replacement available commercially, they said the remaining option was to readjust the existing equipment.
Ambassador Khozin stressed that the equipment was intended to operate for 50 to 60 years and that its structural strength, durability and capacity needed to be verified to ensure reliable long-term operation.
Bangladesh’s science and technology secretary, Md Anwar Hossain, expressed concern about the continuing delays and called for a minimum feasible timeframe for resolving the outstanding problems.
The Russian side requested a further three to four days for technical adjustments and assessments. Khozin said he would convey Bangladesh’s concerns and the urgency of the situation to officials in Moscow and provide an update following the assessment.
Outstanding work at Rooppur
The PORV problem is not the only issue facing the project.
Of 58 facilities associated with Unit 1, 47 have been handed over, according to officials. The project director told the meeting that provisional handover of Unit 1 was scheduled for December 2026.
Bangladesh asked the Russian contractor to use the period during the PORV adjustment to complete as much of the remaining work as possible.
The Russian side agreed to prepare a realistic schedule for completing the outstanding work. Another senior technical team is also expected to travel to Bangladesh shortly, officials said.
Unit 2 also behind schedule
Officials are increasingly concerned about the second reactor.
Under the previous schedule, Unit 2 was expected to be ready for nuclear fuel loading in April 2027. Before fuel loading can begin, a series of tests and inspections must be completed as part of the commissioning process.
Bangladeshi officials said those activities were currently behind schedule.
The project director also told the meeting that several pieces of equipment originally intended for Unit 1 had been used for Unit 2, including spare equipment, and had not yet been replenished. Those items will have to be supplied, installed and commissioned.
Under the general contract, Unit 2 is due to be provisionally handed over to Bangladesh by December 2027.
The Russian side agreed to prepare a comprehensive schedule covering equipment replacement, completion of outstanding work and the eventual handover of Unit 2.
Bangladesh also called for additional experts and an independent technical assessment to establish the root causes of the delays and recommend practical measures to recover lost time.
Russian officials said experienced specialists were already working at the site but that they were assessing whether additional personnel were required. They said a charter flight could be arranged to bring in further experts, particularly to accelerate outstanding ventilation and air-conditioning work on Unit 1 and preparations for Unit 2.
The two sides agreed to maintain close coordination at senior technical and management levels. A further virtual meeting was also proposed following the Russian technical assessment.
Just Energy News attempted to contact the science and technology minister and MOST secretary Anwar Hossain by telephone but was unable to reach either official.
The Rooppur project, being built by Russia under a government-to-government arrangement, is intended to provide Bangladesh with a major new source of low-carbon electricity.
But the latest technical difficulties mean that the country’s long-awaited entry into nuclear power is facing another test of its schedule.