The work on the construction of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) is going on in full swing as the installation of the dome of outer containment at the reactor building of Unit-1 has begun to upgrade safety features protecting any serious external shocks.

It will enhance the safety features of the country’s first nuclear power plant.

According to Rosatom, the Russian contractor of the Rooppur NPP, the installation of the lower tier of the dome has already been completed as part of the work.

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It took five hours for installing the heavy structure with a weight of 200 tonnes and a diameter of 46.3 meters in the design position at a height of 48.8 metres. Installation of the upper tier and concreting will take place in the coming days.

The outer containment is one of the key localising safety systems. It is a reinforced concrete structure protecting the reactor from severe external impacts including earthquake, tsunami or hurricane”, said Alexey Deriy, ASE Vice President and Director for the Rooppur NPP construction project.

Apart from the outer containment, the reactor building is protected with the inner containment that was installed in 2021. Double containment is a distinctive feature of the Russian design of power units with VVER-1200 reactors, ensuring the highest level of safety.

Dome assembly and installation works are carried out by specialists from the Trest RosSEM Branch, a part of the Rosatom Engineering Division.

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Rooppur NPP equipped with two VVER-1200 reactors of a total 2400 MW capacity is being implemented by Rosatom Engineering Division as the General Contractor.

The Generation III+ Russian VVER reactors fully comply with all the international safety requirements.

According to Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC), the 2400 MW Rooppur NPP project, with two units, was undertaken in 2010.

A target was set by the government to complete the construction of the first unit in 2022 and second unit in 2023.

But later the target was reset, and the first unit was to be completed by June 2024 and second unit by June 2025.