Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said the government is planning to build another nuclear power plant to meet the country's growing demand for electricity.

"Today is a very important day for us. The day is not only important for Bangladesh but also for me as well," she said while inaugurating the reactor pressure vessel installation work of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) via video conference from her official Gono Bhaban residence in Dhaka this morning, according to a BSS report.

"Bangladesh has entered the nuclear world," she added.

Hasina said the government has taken a decision to set up another nuclear power plant on completion of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project.

"We're looking for a place in the southern region…It's difficult to find hard soil there but we're surveying various islands and different places to find a suitable one…My choice is on the other side of the Padma river…," UNB quoted her as saying.

Saying that the government is conducting surveys to select a suitable place, she said, "If the government can build another nuclear power plant in the country, there'll be no problem in power supply."

The prime minister said that the government has set a target to turn the country into a developed one within 2041.

In 2071, the prime minister said, the country will celebrate its 100 years of independence. "That will surely be celebrated by the new generation in a beautiful, developed, prosperous and modern technology knowledge-based country," she hoped.

Russian and Bangladeshi expert teams installed the reactor pressure vessel brought to the project site from Russia in October, 2020.

The plant would contain two power units with an electrical capacity of 1,200MW each.

Science and Technology Minister Yeafesh Osman presided over the function and Russia's state-run atomic energy body Rosatom's Director General Alexey Likhachev spoke as the special guest from the RNPP project site.

Science and Technology Secretary, Ziaul Hasan, delivered the welcome address while Project Director of the plant, Dr Mohammad Shawkat Akbar, joined the event from the reactor building. A video presentation on the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant was screened at the function.

Project Director Shaukat Akbar told The Daily Star yesterday, "Installation of reactor pressure vessel is one of the major tasks for using nuclear energy to generate electricity. Nuclear fuel (uranium) from reactor pressure vessel is used to generate electricity."

With installation of the reactor in the main unit of the nuclear power plant at Rooppur in Pabna, the country's aspiration to produce nuclear energy is going to be materialised.

Development of nuclear power industry will not only resolve the problem of energy supply in Bangladesh but will also contribute to the development of the region and enhance the living standards of the people.

The Rooppur project is being implemented by the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, which is being constructed with the technical and financial support of Russia.