Bangladesh's first nuclear power plant reactor reaches minimum controlled power level

The next stage is testing the reactor unit at different power levels, then preparation for the power start-up and connection to the grid. Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev expects the unit to be connected by the end of November.

The gist in brief

• The reactor of power unit No. 1 has reached the minimum controlled power level: a controlled chain reaction has begun.
• Next come tests at different power levels, the power start-up and connection to Bangladesh's grid, according to Rosatom's estimate, by the end of November.
• The plant, 160 km from Dhaka, is the first nuclear power plant in Bangladesh, with two VVER-1200 units with a total capacity of 2,400 MW.
• The general construction contract was signed on December 25, 2015; the cost, according to World Nuclear News, is $12.65 billion.

What happened

According to Strana Rosatom, on October 12 the minimum controlled power level was reached at unit No. 1. This is the initial stage of the physical start-up: from this moment, a stable controlled chain reaction is underway in the reactor, but the unit is not yet generating electricity for the grid. All technological operations, as Rosatom reports, proceeded in accordance with the design and the start-up program. Likhachev called the event an "important milestone."

World Nuclear News gives a slightly different date: according to its data, reactor criticality was achieved on October 11 at 15:34, three days after permission from the national regulator. The discrepancy is probably related to when the event was announced, but this has not been officially explained. According to preliminary data, the power start-up is scheduled for November 20, after which capacity will be increased in stages.

How the construction proceeded

Rosatom signed the agreement on the two reactors in February 2011, and the general contract in December 2015. Construction of the first unit began in November 2017, and of the second in July 2018. The first batch of fuel arrived at the site in October 2023, and the operating license for unit No. 1 was issued on April 16, 2026. In May 2026, loading of 163 fuel assemblies was completed.

What this means for Kazakhstan

Rosatom will build the same VVER-1200 reactors in Kazakhstan as well: at the Balkhash plant, two units with a total capacity, as in Rooppur, of 2.4 GW. The contract with Atomstroyexport was signed on September 3, 2026, and construction, according to the head of Rosatom, will move into an active phase in 2027, with launch planned for approximately the mid-2030s. In Bangladesh, almost eleven years passed from the general contract to the first chain reaction, although the timelines of the two projects should be compared cautiously: their conditions, regulators and stages are different. Strana Rosatom also notes that six VVER-1200 units operate in the world (four in Russia, two in Belarus), and Kazakhstan is conducting surveys at a site for two.

Author's conclusion

For Bangladesh, the event is not the launch of a power plant but the beginning of tests: the unit will supply electricity to the grid after the power start-up. The deadline of the end of November is cited by Rosatom itself, and there is no independent assessment, so it is worth watching the results of tests at different power levels and the connection date.