4.6.3 Human resources development

4.2 Nuclear power situation

The proposal for building a nuclear power plant in the western zone of the country was first mooted in 1961. Since then a number of feasibility reports had been prepared which established that the plant was technically and economically feasible. The Rooppur site was selected in 1963 and 292 acres (118.3 hectare) of land (105.3 hectare for plant and 13 hectare for residential purposes) was acquired for the project. Physical infrastructures like residential quarters, site office, rest house, internal road, electric substation, pump house etc. were established in the project area. The then Pakistan government gave formal approval for 70 MW, 140 MW and 200 MW Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in 1963, 1966 and 1969, respectively. Following liberation the ECNEC had approved the pp for a 125 MW nuclear power plant in 1980. A number of suppliers had submitted proposals for the project both before and after liberation. However, the project could not be implemented due to several problems with financing as the main obstacle. Considering the changed circumstances in national and international level the government of Bangladesh expressed its firm commitment to implement the Rooppur nuclear power project (RNPP). It may be mentioned that the inordinate delay in project implementation has brought about a number of changes in the planning process. For example since grid size is growing, it will eventually grow to a size where accommodation of a larger plant of 600 mw with advantage of economy of scale would be required. The growth of the grid to such a size incidentally matches the time needed for implementation of such a plant. Such changes would necessitate updating data, information and some of the past studies.