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Experts urge govt to scrap Rooppur power plant

Staff Correspondent
Speakers at a seminar yesterday opposed the setting up of Rooppur nuclear power plant on safety and environmental grounds.
Instead of going for the nuclear power plant, they called upon the government to look for alternative power sources to meet the country's growing electricity demand.
Mahmudur Rahman Manna-led Nagorik Oikya organised the seminar titled "Electric power development in Bangladesh” at Jatiya Press Club in the capital.
"A huge amount of water will be required to cool the reactor and roads of the plant, which generate around 2,000 degrees Celsius heat. But there is not enough surface water source in the plant area. Therefore, we will have to depend on groundwater, inflicting negative impact on the environment,” BD Rahmatullah, former director general of the power cell at power ministry, said.
He also said excessive use of groundwater will destroy soil fertility in the region, affecting trees and the entire environment.
"We certainly need power. But what use the nuclear plant will have if the people, trees, fish and the environment do not exist?" he said. Terming the nuclear power plant a "mass killingtrap", Rahmatullah, also a former chief engineer of Rural Electrification Board, called upon the government to abort the nuclear power plant project.
Saifur Rahman, a chair professor at Virginia Tech College of Engineering, said there are many hidden costs in the nuclear power plant project.
For example, Russia has assured to take back the nuclear waste of the power plant, and will train our manpower. But the government did not make it clear who will pay for it, he said.
The cost of the nuclear plant will be very high if the hidden costs are considered, he added.
Speaking at the seminar, former Bangladesh Bank governor Dr Salehuddin Ahmed said pressure has to be put on the government so that it accepts experts' suggestions on different crucial issues,
including the nuclear power plant, in the country s interest.
He also said development without good governance will not be sustainable.
SM Akram, adviser of Nagorik Oikya, expressed concerns over money being siphoned off from the huge project.
Nagorik Oikya convener Manna said there are concerns around the world about taking up nuclear power plants, especially due to safety aspects. And for Bangladesh, there is a concern that since it is a densely populated country, a nuclear accident would be a massive disaster for us.