BANGLADESH'S NUCLEAR POWER AMBITIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 001333

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/14/2017
TAGS: ENRG PREL BTIO TSPL BG KN
SUBJECT: BANGLADESH'S NUCLEAR POWER AMBITIONS

REF: DHAKA 738

Classified By: CDA.a.i. GEETA PASI FOR REASONS 1.4(b) AND (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY. Bangladesh's power crisis continues to
worsen, and the Caretaker Government would like to show
progress in this area. Since the IAEA approved Bangladesh's
intent to develop a nuclear power plant on June 24,
Bangladesh has continued to express strong interest in
pursuing nuclear power and has taken steps to move towards
realizing that goal. With at least four years before a power
reactor complex could become operational, however, nuclear
power is not a quick fix for Bangladesh's power problems.
END SUMMARY


2. (U) IAEA APPROVAL FOR NUCLEAR POWER. Local media
trumpeted the June 24 announcement that the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had approved Bangladesh and seven
other developing countries' plans for nuclear power reactors.
Bangladesh has a 20-year old plan to build a 600 megawatt
plant in Dinajpur in the far northwest, but other than
acquiring the land, no action has been taken. Adviser for
the Power and Energy Ministry Tappan Chowdhury publicly
pointed to the IAEA approval as one of various moves the
Caretaker Government has made to resolve the country's
worsening power crisis. Media also announced an offer from
South Korea to finance 60% of the project and that a
high-powered delegation would travel to South Korea in July
for an IAEA conference and discussions about the potential
investment.


3. (C) STEPS TOWARDS REALIZING THE GOAL OF NUCLEAR POWER.
Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) Chairman Shafiqul
Islam Bhuiyan, Ph.D, and S. M. Wahid-uz-Zaman, Secretary of
the Ministry of Science and Information & Communication
Technology, confirmed to Econoff that they had visited South
Korea in July and toured at least one reactor facility.
During an August 4-13 visit to Bangladesh by a Department of
Energy (DOE) radiological security team, Chairman Bhuiyan
also took the opportunity to stress his intent to make the
existing Savar research reactor facility a 'model project' to
demonstrate Bangladesh's ability to properly secure
radiological materials. (NOTE: The DOE team's actions
regarding physical security upgrades of Bangladesh's existing
radiological materials - research reactor, waste processing
facility, oncology centers and commercial irradiation
facilities - will be reported septel. END NOTE.) Chairman
Bhuiyan also emphasized Bangladesh's commitment to peaceful,
non-military use of nuclear power and Bangladesh's signature
of relevant treaties, such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty.


4. (C) BANGLADESH ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION STRUGGLES TO STAY
RELEVANT. Secretary Wahid-uz-Zaman and BAEC Chairman Bhuiyan
both characterized the goal of nuclear power as a make or
break event for the BAEC during meetings with Econoff and the
DOE team. In the Secretary's opinion, the BAEC, its research
reactor and its activities are sometimes characterized as an
expensive white elephant that Bangladesh cannot afford to
sustain. (NOTE: While the BAEC facility does valuable work
in preparing isotopes for medical use and irradiating
commercial goods, it does not communicate these benefits
effectively or offset its expense through its commercial
services. END NOTE.)


5. (C) USG CURRENTLY FAVORED, BUT NOT THE ONLY OPTION. The
BAEC values the physical security upgrades and training
provided through the DOE radiological security program and
USG involvement generally. For example, BAEC Chairman
Bhuiyan attended graduate school in the US on a DOE
scholarship and frequently mentions his strong positive
personal feelings towards the DOE and USG. Other BAEC
personnel, however, have also studied in China, Russia and
South Korea, and therefore have connections with those
countries as well.


6. (C) COMMENT: Bangladesh has a critical need to increase
power generation, as evidenced by a 600 MW decrease in
generating capacity since August 2 due to scheduled and
unscheduled maintenance; as a result, it is even more
pressing for the Caretaker Government to at least appear to
be making progress on this problem. While nuclear power is a
long term undertaking, movement towards creating a nuclear
power facility would not only be perceived progress towards a

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solution to the power crisis but also would provide the
prestige of being highly-developed and technologically
advanced. Bureaucratically, the BAEC seeks to increase its
relevance and its operations, with attendant increase in
funding, personnel, prestige, etc. Pursuit of nuclear power
also allows Bangladesh to sidestep, at least temporarily, the
politically sensitive issues relating to developing gas and
coal resources, including the particularly difficult question
of exports. Regardless of Bangladesh's eventual success or
failure in securing foreign aid or investment for developing
nuclear power, the GOB's clear desire to move in that
direction presents the USG with an opportunity to continue
engaging the BAEC on improving radiological security. This
engagement would provide the US with both the
counterterrorism benefit of denying access to radiological
sources and also with the opportunity to remain included in
the development of the GOB's nuclear power plans.
PASI