"Building a nuclear power plant in the west of the country was proposed in 1961. Since then a number of feasibility reports have affirmed the technical and economic feasibility. The Rooppur site in Pabna district was selected in 1963 and land was acquired... the government in 1999 expressed its firm commitment to build this Rooppur plant. In 2001 it adopted a national Nuclear Power Action Plan and in 2005 it signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with China. In 2007 the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission proposed two 500 MWe nuclear reactors for Rooppur by 2015, quoting likely costs of US$ 0.9-1.2 billion for a 600 MWe unit and US$ 1.5-2.0 billion for 1000 MWe. In April 2008 the government reiterated its intention to work with China in building the Rooppur plant and China offered funding for the project." (1)

"Bangladesh's emergency government said Sunday it will build a nuclear power plant to meet electricity shortages that have sparked riots and hit the country's economy. The International Atomic Energy Commission, the global nuclear watchdog, had approved a government plan to set up a nuclear power plant, interim Energy Minister Tapan Chowdhury told reporters." (2)

"Beijing has assured Dhaka of help in peaceful use of nuclear technology for the implementation of Rooppur nuclear power plant to meet the growing demand for energy. Beijing positively responded to Dhaka's request as the interim government chief Fakhruddin Ahmed held meetings with the Chinese officials during his recent visit to China." (5)

"A Bangladesh official who accompanied Fakhruddin in China said Beijing has suggested that Dhaka should examine the nuclear power plant in Pakistan, set up with Chinese assistance. Once Bangladesh is impressed with the plant, Dhaka and Beijing can start negotiation to replicate the China-Pakistan model of nuclear power plant in Bangladesh." (5)

"[Foreign Ministry officials] said Bangladesh had so far approached Russia, Japan and South Korea in connection with the nuclear power plant, but were yet to get any positive response. 'Among the countries that we have approached for peaceful use of nuclear power for energy generation, Russia wants to provide technical support, Korea would like to provide a portion of amount for the project and Japan's response towards the nuclear power plant is very lukewarm as it does not provide support for such projects,' said an official." (5)

"Pakistan has offered to help Bangladesh with the latter's proposed first nuclear power reactor, which was conceived when they were a single country, but never took off. Pakistan's High Commissioner to Bangladesh Alamgir Babar Monday said that his country was ready to share nuclear technology for civilian purposes to help tackle the massive energy crisis. Babar said Pakistan's offer was "on the table" and it was for Bangladesh to decide whether the country wanted to discuss it, the Daily Star newspaper reported Tuesday." (6)

"Russia entered a race with China and South Korea on Sunday to win a contract to build a 1,000 megawatt nuclear power plant for energy-starved Bangladesh." (8)

"Mohammed Muzammel Haque, chief engineer at the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC), claims Bangladesh has opted to build a 1100 MWe plant. But neither the time frame for completion nor the technology supplier for the long-planned plant at Rooppur, western Bangladesh plant have been decided." (9)

"Representatives of the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom and the Bangladeshi government signed on [13 May 2009] a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the nuclear sphere. The key element of Bangladesh's nuclear program is the construction of the country's first nuclear power plant. [...] Bangladesh, which is badly short of energy, plans to build two reactors in the city of Ruppur." (10)

“Absence of strong political will and a sense of uncertainty about winning political mileage have kept successive governments away from implementing Bangladesh’s lone nuclear power project, conceived nearly five decades ago, say nuclear scientists.” (11)