BD gets permission to set up nuclear power plant

Bangladesh has got permission from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to set up a nuclear power plant to meet its growing demand of power.

"Bangladesh was in the top of the list of eight developing countries which were approved to set up nuclear power plants," Tapan Chowdhury, adviser to the interim government and head of the energy ministry, told media on sunday.

Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt, Morocco and some small countries in central Asia got the approval for setting up nuclear reactors.

“We have now got the approval from the organization and already there is an offer from (South) Korea to finance 60 per cent of the project,” he said, without elaborating. Bangladesh is suffering from acute shortage of electricity. The country faces around 2,000 MW shortage of electricity every day and the shortage is being covered through load shedding of electricity.

Last year, violence over power cuts in a northern Bangladesh town (Fulbari) left at least 20 people dead in clashes between police and farmers who had demanded increased power supply for irrigation. The country’s military-backed government, which took over in January after an emergency was imposed and elections cancelled over vote-rigging allegations, has made tackling the power crisis one of its top priorities.

Bangladesh has already attempted to import electricity from India, Nepal and Bhutan, but finally abandoned the idea due to complicacies.