Amid efforts by Pakistan and Bangladesh to strengthen bilateral ties, Islamabad has refused airspace clearance for a Russian flight carrying nuclear fuel for Bangladesh’s Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, delaying the shipment.
Pakistan has described its refusal to allow airspace for a flight carrying nuclear fuel for Bangladesh’s Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant as a technical and procedural matter, after the shipment was delayed.
The Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka said on Tuesday that requests for diplomatic flights and overflight clearances are processed within a standardised timeframe and in accordance with established regulatory guidelines and civil aviation protocols.
“With regard to the reports being quoted, the matter appears to relate to technical and procedural arrangements concerning flight routing and airspace permissions, which can occasionally require coordination among the relevant aviation and other authorities and may result in adjustments to flight schedules”, the High Commission said in a clarification.
It added that Pakistan attaches “high importance” to its relations with Bangladesh and said the issue should be viewed in its “proper technical context”.
Uranium shipment delayed
Bangladesh’s Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant has faced a delay in the arrival of uranium fuel for its second unit after the flight carrying the shipment was not granted clearance to use Pakistani airspace.
The nuclear fuel had been scheduled to arrive in Bangladesh on September 24. However, the shipment did not reach the country as planned.
Bangladesh’s Minister for Science and Technology Faqir Mahbub Anam told news agency ANI, “We heard that a cargo plane carrying uranium for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Bangladesh was scheduled to arrive on September 24. However, the flight was not given permission to use Pakistani airspace, so the uranium did not arrive in Bangladesh as planned. As of now, the exact reason for Pakistan not granting the airspace clearance is still unknown.”
He said a new date had been proposed, with Russia indicating that the uranium could arrive in Bangladesh in the first week of October.
Bangladesh awaiting revised schedule
Sheikh Mohammed Tauhidul Islam, Joint Secretary to Bangladesh’s Science and Technology Ministry, said preparations at the airport had been completed before the shipment was delayed.
“We had completed all the preparations at the airport and were waiting, but the liaison officer from Rosatom told us that the airspace was not clear. So we couldn’t send it. It may need to be rescheduled”, he told ANI over the phone.
Bangladesh’s Rooppur nuclear project
The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant is Bangladesh’s first nuclear power facility. It is being built in Rooppur village along the banks of the Padma River in Pakshi Union, Ishwardi Upazila, Pabna District, with technical assistance from Rosatom and under the oversight of the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission.
The project comprises two third-generation VVER-1200 reactor units, which will have a combined capacity of 2,400 megawatts of baseload electricity.
Bangladesh received the first shipment of low-enriched uranium fuel for Unit 1 from Russia, marking the country’s entry into the nuclear age.
The shipment, manufactured by Rosatom’s Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant, consisted of 164 fresh fuel assemblies.
The fuel was flown directly from Russia to Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport aboard a heavy-lift Russian cargo aircraft under strict international safeguards.
The radiation-shielded containers were subsequently transported from the capital to the plant in Ishwardi, Pabna, through a heavily fortified “green corridor” guarded by the Bangladesh Army and law enforcement agencies. An official handover ceremony was held at the plant site in October 2023.
(with ANI inputs)
