Bangladesh has received its first delivery of nuclear fuel, meaning the nation has officially joined the world’s ‘nuclear’ countries.

In November 2017, construction began on the Rooppur nuclear plant 160km from the capital, Dhaka. The plant features two Russian VVER-1200 reactors; construction of the first unit began in November 2017 and it is scheduled to be commissioned in 2024. Construction of the second unit began in July 2018. Russian company Rosatom is running the project, which will have an initial life cycle of 60 years, with a further 20-year extension possible.

Alexei Likhachev, director of Rosatom, said: “This day marks a new stage in the development of Russian-Bangladeshi relations. For Rosatom, it is a great honour to implement a project which will ensure stable power supply and will help to preserve the unique nature of Bangladesh future generations.”