Pakistan offers to share Nuclear technology with Bangladesh

[[R_H]]

Times of India

DHAKA: 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 on 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 on Tuesday.

Foreign Adviser Iftekhar A Chowdhury has already discussed nuclear energy cooperation with Russia and China after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recently cleared Bangladesh to use nuclear power for civilian use. Russians showed willingness to help during Chowdhury's Moscow visit last month.

"We have a programme for nuclear energy. We are going ahead with that. It is up to Bangladesh to decide what they want," Babar told reporters.

He said discussions over the matter could take place within the parameters of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) even though Pakistan is not a part of it. Bangladesh is a signatory to NPT.

Pakistan is the latest to make such an offer that would be viewed with interest by the strategic community.

Its bid to strike a civilian nuclear technology agreement has been rejected by the US, which has worked out a deal with India for the same. Pakistan's traditional military ally China has also not obliged, being governed by the IAEA and the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers' Group. Bangladesh too has sought help from China.

The project was conceived during the Ayub Khan era in 1961 to be located at Rooppur in northern Bangladesh's Pabna district.

Several countries including the US, Britain, France and Canada had shown interest in the project when Bangladesh was part of Pakistan. And after its independence, India too seemed keen. But the project, however, did not materialise.

Bangladesh has revived the idea of the project it in the last two years since India and the US got into discussions over a nuclear deal, realising the need for meeting its growing energy needs.

[Xenophobe3691]

Good for them. Not only will this help meet energy demands, but the skilled technicians and engineers required will help with their economy...

[Sarevok]

Unlikely. The hippy lobby is strong here. Someday I will have to post pictures. Its like 60s never happened here untill now. Also the goverment is too corrupt and the public too apathetic to get anything this complex done. End result ? 2015 comes, natural gas runs out as predicted and this place becomes first victim of oilcalypse.

Good for them. Not only will this help meet energy demands, but the skilled technicians and engineers required will help with their economy...

The skilled technicians and engineers currently work with connecting lan cables in windows vista now... Seriously. My dad was part of the generation that trained in soviet union for the rooppur project cited in the article. He now fixes microsith networks for a living. Like him most of the atomic energy commision employees now sit in a bank office, work IT or live in america.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Good for them. Not only will this help meet energy demands, but the skilled technicians and engineers required will help with their economy...

Erm.. I would question whether they have enough skilled workers to even maintain one of these things, never mind the annual typhoon risk.

[Sarevok]

Good for them. Not only will this help meet energy demands, but the skilled technicians and engineers required will help with their economy...

Erm.. I would question whether they have enough skilled workers to even maintain one of these things, never mind the annual typhoon risk.

Aye. If this were the 70s there would been a chance this could been pulled off. But since then the country has moved away from industralisation and towards "IT". It's all shiny and western like in some parts of Dhaka city. But besides the textile few things are made here because the industry does not exist. Even pin heads are imported from China. If you look for university graduates in a subject other than dealing with computers or finances you would end up in US or Europe because the few scarce engineers remaining no longer work locally. Well there are a few stuck in goverment jobs but designing bridges and dams or factories is seen as unsexy compared to Cisco network administration and call centers. I know quite a few collegues of my parents like these who immedietly left their goverment jobs for abroad or a private sector job localy that has nothing to do with their engineering qualifications. It's not just a brain drain going on in Bangladesh, the very urge to learn has been rotted.