AHMED HUMAYUN KABIR TOPU and ASIFUR RAHMAN

Bangladesh moves a step closer to achieving its long‑cherished goal of generating nuclear energy this afternoon with the start of fuel loading into the reactor core of unit‑1 at the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, marking the transition from the construction to the startup phase.

With this milestone, Bangladesh is poised to join a select group of a little over 30 nuclear power‑producing countries and become the third South Asian country, after India and Pakistan, to generate nuclear energy.

Officials said fuel loading would be completed in less than 45 days, and the reactor core would be warmed up within three months by withdrawing neutron absorbers. Electricity will then be generated on a trial basis and fed into the national grid.

Russia’s state-run TVEL Fuel Company is providing the nuclear fuel. Russia has agreed to take back the spent fuel, using its own technology. However, the final roadmap for this has yet to be finalised.

“If the commissioning progresses smoothly, we expect to add a minimum of 300 megawatts by late July or early August to the national grid. Production will then gradually increase by 10 to 15 percent, reaching the ceiling of 1,200 megawatts by late 2026 or early 2027,” Md Anwar Hossain, secretary at the science and technology The

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