Bangladesh: Rooppur Nuclear Plant Unsafe, Not Viable

By Concerned Citizens
10 July, 2013
Countercurrents.org
We, the scientists, engineers, academics, doctors, surgeons and other
professionals of Bangladeshi origin living abroad as well as conscientious
foreign nationals and dignitaries, are very much concerned about the safety
and economic viability of the proposed nuclear power plant at Rooppur. Our
concerns arise from the following considerations:
1. The site at Rooppur, by the River Padma, was chosen more than 50 years
ago for a 10MWe prototype nuclear power plant on purely political grounds by
the then Pakistani Junta (in 1961). No site selection procedure or
environmental impact assessment was ever conducted, but the present
government wants to build not just one but two 1000 MWe units on the same
site. The River Padma is now heavily silted due to extraction of as much as 75
per cent of water during the lean summer months by India using Farakka
Barrage only 40km upstream of the proposed site. The remaining amount of
water is woefully inadequate to meet the plant cooling requirement for even
one 1000MWe plant! This would increase the risk of nuclear accident as in
Fukushima (loss of coolant accident) to an unacceptable level and the present
government ignores this stark reality!
2. The Bangladesh government seems to have been blinded by the Russian
offer to build a nuclear power plant and provide the loans for it. No
consideration has been given to the suitability of the proposed plant (VVER1000) or its safety standards. The VVER-1000 is quite outdated. Its safety
standards fall so short that even in Russia the construction of one of the
VVER-1000 plants was cancelled in 2008. Former Soviet block countries had
to agree to decommission VVER-400 and VVER-1000 reactors before being
allowed to join the EU. So why is Bangladesh now accepting such an outdated,
unsafe and discarded model?
3. The Minister in Charge and the Chairman of the Bangladesh Atomic Energy
Commission claim that Russia will build each of these units of VVER-1000 for

$2 billion. However, Russia has said nothing at all to that effect. Of this
$2billion, $500million will be spent on an exhibition centre, feasibility studies
etc. The remaining $1,500 million is inadequate as a similar plant in China,
with quality third party parts, is costing $4,500 million.
4. Bangladesh has no technical expertise or skilled manpower to undertake
such a complex and high tech project. On top of that, the country has no
industrial infrastructure and the transport system is absolutely rudimentary.
Most of the materials to be used in the plant such as the quality assured high
grade stainless steel, pipes, valves, pumps and other components will have to
be imported and the cost will simply be prohibitive.
5. Bangladesh has no institutional and regulatory framework to undertake a
complex project like this and consequently safety standards will be seriously
impaired. The Minister in Charge claimed that Russia has assured Bangladesh
of the safety of the plant; whereas the Russian state owned company, Rosatom
(reactor vendor) has rightly asserted that the responsibility of ensuring safety
lies with the licensee (Bangladesh government). The Bangladesh authorities
seem to be unaware of the legal implications of the licensing regime.
6. It seems no consideration has been given to technical issues associated with
the storage, transportation and disposal of radioactive material and
radioactive waste. The government claims radioactive waste materials will go
to Russia but Russia has said no such agreement has been reached.
Given these shortcomings and insurmountable impediments, the Bangladesh
government should seriously consider abandoning this project. The risk of
mismanaging a nuclear power plant is the inevitable occurrence of a nuclear
accident and the consequences are simply mind boggling thousands, if not
millions, of people will be exposed to high doses of radiation, large swathes of
arable land will be contaminated with radioactive materials and the country
will be lumbered with billions of dollars of compensation. When advanced
countries like Germany, Italy, Switzerland have all given up nuclear power
plants and with Japan is tapering down nuclear power production after the
Fukushima disaster, Bangladesh seems to be charging ahead recklessly. A
grand vision is meaningless without competence, judgement and knowledge.

Signed on behalf of Voice for Justice World Forum

http://www.voiceforjustice.org :
1. Dr. Anisur Rahman CRadP MSRP FNucI, Former Principal Scientist UK
Atomic Energy Authority, Voice For Justice Convenor, Manchester, UK
2. Dr. Hasanat M. Husain MBE, MInstP, CPhys.(UK), AICTP (Italy), Former
Scientific Officer, Atomic Energy Commission, Dhaka. Former Assoc.
Professor, Dept. Of Physics, University of Dhaka, Zambia, Sebha. Convenor Voice For Justice World Forum
3. Dr. Hasan Zillur Rahim, Academic, Physicist and Writer/Editor, Former
Scientific Officer, AEC, Dhaka. Joint Convenor - Voice For Justice World
Forum, San Jose, USA.
4. Dr. Peter Custers, Political Economist, Theoretician on Nuclear Waste,
Bangladesh Bandhu Award-holder, Leiden, The Netherlands
5. Mr. Ezajur Rahman, VFJ Convenor, Kuwait.
6. Dr. Ataur Rahman, Former Senior Scientific Officer, Atomic Energy
Commission, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
7. Mr. Sadiqur Rahman, Joint Convenor, Voice For Justice, London, UK.
8. Dr. Zakia Rahman, Department of Physics, University of Limerick, VFJ
Joint Convenor, Ireland
9. Mr. Hasan Mahmud, Convenor, Voice For Justice, Toronto, Canada
10. Mrs. Dilruba Z. Ara, Academic and Writer, VFJ Convenor, Lund, Sweden
11. Prof. Quamrul Haider, Dept. of Physics, Fordham University, New
York,USA
12. Dr. Bani Amin, Retired University Lecturer, Manchester,UK
13. Mr. Ansar Karim Khan, Environmental Scientist, Toronto, Canada.

14. Prof. M.A. Quaiyum, Registrar, American International Uniiversity,

Bangladesh
15. Mr. Satish Kapur, Political Activist, Leicester, UK.
16. Mr. Zoglul Hussain, VFJ London, UK
17. Mr. Gulzar Ahmad, VFJ Convenor, Vienna, Austria
18. Mr. Enamul Majid Choudhury, VFJ Convenor, Stockholm, Sweden
19. Mr. Aliar Hossain MIBA, MIBC, MRBF; Director, Regents Consulting
Services Ltd, VFJ London, UK
20. Dr Fuad Mukkarram Munawwar Ali, Physicist and VFJ member, London,
UK
21. Mrs. Shahida Husain, MSS, FRS, Teacher, Joint Convenor, VFJ London,
UK
22. Councillor M. Idu Miah, VFJ Convenor, Greater Manchester, UK
23. Dr. Adeeb Husain, Queens Hospital, Romford, UK
24. Mr. Mohidur Rahman, VFJ Convenor, Kent, UK
25. Mr. Ahmad Abdullah, VFJ Joint Convenor, Toronto, Canada
26. Dr. Reaz Talukder, MA, LLB, PhD., Retired officer and ex-BIDS Staff
researcher, VFJ Manchester, UK
and many others