Transport of uranium fuel for Bangladesh’s Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant has been disrupted after Pakistan denied airspace clearance for the cargo flight. Nuclear fuel destined for Unit 2 of the plant was scheduled to arrive on 24 September but has not reached Dhaka due to the airspace blockage.

Faqir Mahbub Anam, Bangladesh’s Minister for Science and Technology, told ANI that a cargo plane carrying uranium for Rooppur was expected on 24 September but could not proceed as Pakistani airspace permission was withheld. He said the exact reason for Pakistan’s refusal remains unknown. Russia has now indicated the first week of October as a proposed new window for the uranium to arrive in Bangladesh.

Sheikh Mohammed Tauhidul Islam, Joint Secretary at the Bangladesh Science and Technology Ministry, said all preparations at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport had been completed and officials were waiting, but the Rosatom liaison officer informed them the airspace was not clear. Consequently, the shipment could not be dispatched and may need to be rescheduled. Bangladeshi officials were unable to specify which country had blocked the airspace beyond confirming Pakistan’s role in withholding clearance.

ANI sent an email to a Rosatom representative seeking clarification but had received no response at the time of reporting. The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, Bangladesh’s first nuclear facility, is being constructed in Rooppur village on the banks of the Padma River in Pakshi Union, Ishwardi Upazila, Pabna District, with technical assistance from Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation, Rosatom, and under the oversight of the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission.

The project comprises two third-generation VVER-1200 reactor units that will together generate 2,400 megawatts of baseload electricity. Bangladesh officially entered the nuclear age when the initial shipment of low-enriched uranium fuel for Unit 1 of the 2,400 MW Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant arrived safely from Russia.

The 164 fresh fuel assemblies, manufactured by Rosatom’s Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant, were flown directly from Russia into Dhaka aboard a heavy-lift Russian cargo aircraft under strict international safeguards.

From the capital, the radiation-shielded containers were transported along a heavily fortified green corridor guarded by the Bangladesh Army and law enforcement agencies to the plant site in Ishwardi, Pabna, where an official handover ceremony was held in October 2023. According to revised schedules agreed in June 2025, Unit 1 is slated for commercial operation in December 2026 and Unit 2 in December 2027. The total investment in Bangladesh’s nuclear power programme stands at approximately $29.2 billion, with significant technical and financial support from Rosatom.

In a separate development, Bangladesh and the United States signed an agreement on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, even as the Rooppur Unit 2 fuel shipment faced delay due to the airspace issue. Officials could not identify which country’s airspace was involved beyond the confirmation that Pakistan had withheld clearance.

ANI