Bangladesh completes fuel loading at Rooppur nuclear plant
Bangladesh has completed loading 163 nuclear fuel assemblies into Unit 1 of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, marking a major milestone toward the country’s first nuclear electricity generation.
Fuel loading began on April 28, 2026, and was completed in accordance with the initial core loading programme and nuclear safety requirements. The next phase includes reactor assembly, instrumentation integration and further testing before the unit reaches minimum controllable power and is later synchronised with the grid.
The Rooppur project, located around 160 kilometres from Dhaka, consists of two VVER-1200 Generation III+ reactors of 1,200 MW each, taking the plant’s total capacity to 2,400 MW. The project is being developed by Rosatom under a $12.65 billion contract signed in 2015. Construction of Unit 1 started in 2017, followed by Unit 2 in 2018. The Bangladesh Nuclear Regulatory Authority granted the operating licence for Unit 1 on April 16, 2026.
With this development, Bangladesh becomes the third South Asian country after India and Pakistan to move toward nuclear-based electricity generation.
The featured photograph is for representation only.
