Energy Bangla

Energy electricity and environment news portal

Dhaka Friday,  Mar 29, 2024

IAEA team in Dhaka to assess safety for Npp

EB Reporter

A high-level technical team of the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) is now in Dhaka to develop the capability of Bangladeshi experts and stakeholders in assessing the safety measures of a nuclear power plant with its own human resources.
The IAEA sent the team as Bangladesh is set to kick off construction work on the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP).
“The IAEA has a milestone document that needs developing 19 items (related to safety issues) by Bangladesh, to establish the RNPP. However, the IAEA will help Bangladesh to fulfill the needs as per the document,” the head of the team, Peter Wills, a technocrat of the safety assessment
section of the IAEA, said.
Wills accompanied his two colleagues to Dhaka to conduct a three-day workshop with the experts of the RNPP.
The team of experts will take technical class and discuss the safety issues set by the IAEA, which is mandatory for setting up nuclear power plants anywhere in the world.
According to the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC), the country is set to start building a robust infrastructure based on the milestone document of the IAEA, to
establish RNPP.
“Safety is a major and main issue for the nuclear power project, as Bangladesh is a newcomer in this sector. So, the IAEA will organise such programmes in future, as we need to know the safety issues first,” said Dr Sawkat Akbar, project
director, RNPP.
Bangladesh faces skilled manpower shortage and funds crunch, but following the Fukushima plant disaster, effective steps were taken to make nuclear power plants safer everywhere, the workshop will be told.
The IAEA is assisting Bangladesh with help of Russian state-owned company, Rosatom, to establish its first nuclear power project at Rooppur.
Regarding the safety of nuclear power, the IAEA paper said that the use of nuclear power will continue to increase around the world, especially in Asia and Middle East. “So we need to be more cautious about the safety and awareness of the nuclear project”.
According to the IAEA, the demand for nuclear power will continue to surge in the next two decades in China, India and the Middle East.
According to the IAEA, a total of 434 nuclear power plants are in operation across the globe, while 69 new ones are under implementation, Akbar added.
Another 80 to 90 plants would be built in the next two decades. Bangladesh, Jordan, Nigeria, Turkey and Algeria are the new entrants in the nuclear power sector and are working on setting up their nuclear power plants.

Comment here