The Bangladesh Army is set to take full control of security of the country’s solitary nuclear power plant at Rooppur in Pabna district even as a four-member team of senior officers led by the Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Mizanur Rahman Shamim visited Austria and France between October 30 and November 4 to hold consultations with top International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) officials.
Bangladesh Armed Forces Division (AFD) documents accessed by Northeast News show that Lt Gen Shamim and the country’s Defence Adviser in Vienna, Brigadier Rubaiyat Mahmud Hasib, besides two officers of the rank of major, toured IAEA’s headquarters in the Austrian capital during the six-day visit.
Of immediate urgency for the Bangladesh Army is to realise the Mohammad Yunus-led interim regime’s objective to enhance security at the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Pabna where it intends to institutionalise a wider physical protection system (PPS) which till recently was provided by a special cell of the Bangladesh Army.
A composite force under the RNPP’s Nuclear Security and Physical Protection System Cell, which is supported by law enforcement and other stakeholders, is responsible for the physical protection of the plant, based on national legislation, international guidelines and IAEA protocols.
The aim to strengthen security is being sought to be achieved at a time when RNPP’s Reactor-1 is all set to be commissioned, official documents show.
In the backdrop of the prevailing conditions at the nuclear power plant, Lt Gen Shamim took part in crucial meetings with IAEA officials over expanding the scope of “nuclear security” and “nuclear security regime”.
Subsequently, the team led by Lt Gen Shamim visited France where the officers met senior French defence ministry officials. Details of the issues discussed at this meeting are not known.
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RNPP is a civilian initiative managed by the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission and built in collaboration with Russia’s Rosatom.
The plant is the first nuclear power facility in Bangladesh, with two VVER-1200 reactors that will generate a total of 2,400 MW of power once operational.
Construction of the first and second reactors started in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Commercial operations of the first unit, which was originally slated to begin in 2025, has been delayed.
The initial contract for the project, worth $12.65 billion, was signed in December 2015. India provided training schemes to develop skilled manpower for construction and maintenance work at RNPP.
The first batch of fresh uranium, the nuclear fuel for Reactor-1, arrived in Bangladesh in late September 2023, via a special air cargo.
