A minor technical anomaly has been detected during commissioning tests at the Unit-1 of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, temporarily halting trial operations, although the plant’s operator has insisted there is no cause for public concern.
The issue emerged on Friday last during testing following the loading of nuclear fuel into Unit-1 of the country’s first nuclear power station, according to the state-owned Nuclear Power Company Bangladesh Limited (NPCBL).
Speaking to journalists on Monday, NPCBL Managing Director Dr Zahedul Hasan said safety remained the project’s highest priority and dismissed what he described as misleading reports circulating about the incident.
“There is no room for compromise on safety,” he said. “Some distorted and inaccurate information being spread by certain quarters is creating unnecessary public anxiety that does not reflect the actual situation.”
NPCBL said the technical deviation was identified during a mandatory “leak-tightness test” conducted in the plant’s secondary circuit at a pressure of 8.1 megapascals (MPa). The test is a routine international requirement carried out whenever a nuclear power plant transitions from shutdown status towards operational readiness.
According to the operator, the anomaly exceeded pre-established acceptance criteria and was therefore flagged for further evaluation and corrective action. The commissioning process has been paused while engineers address the issue.
Dr Hasan stressed that detecting such irregularities before commercial operation is a normal and essential part of nuclear plant commissioning. He said all nuclear facilities undergo extensive safety and performance testing under international standards before entering service, with oversight from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority.
“The identification of even a minor deviation demonstrates that the plant’s safety and quality assurance systems are functioning as intended,” he said.
NPCBL added that no approval would be granted to proceed until all necessary corrective measures had been completed and verified.
Just Energy News published an exclusive report titled “Minor Fault Detected During Testing of Rooppur Nuclear Plant Unit 1” on Friday (available at: https://justenergynews24.com/minor-fault-detected-during-testing-of-rooppur-unit-1/).
The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, located in Pabna district, consists of two reactors with a combined generation capacity of 2,400 megawatts. Nuclear fuel was loaded into the first unit on 28 April, after which commissioning activities began.
Under the current schedule, Unit 1 is expected to begin supplying around 1,100MW of electricity to Bangladesh’s national grid in January 2027. Fuel loading at Unit 2 is planned for June 2027, with both reactors potentially delivering a combined 2,200MW to the grid by September of that year.