The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Adviser for Science, Information and Communication Technology Tapan Chowdhury said the utilisation of the country's coal resources for power generation will reduce the dependency on gas for electricity generation.

He expressed satisfaction for taking initiative for the application of nuclear technology for coal resource development.

He said this as chief guest at the inaugural session of five-day long International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA)/ RCA regional training course on 'In-Situ Analysis of Coal Quality' at auditorium of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Centre (BAEC) in the city yesterday.

The Adviser hoped that the lectures of the IAEA experts, exchange of ideas among the participants will contribute towards the development of coal and mineral resources of the region through peaceful use of nuclear technology.

SM Wahid-uz-Zaman, Secretary for Ministry of Science, Information and Communication Technology, said the training course will expand the domain of nuclear technology in various fields including coal and mineral resources development.

Dr Shafiqul Islam Bhuiyan, Chairman of BAEC, said for the development of the country's importance should be given to all sectors such as oil, gas, coal and also nuclear minerals to meet the country's energy needs.

Dr Jacek Charbucinski, IAEA expert, Dr Farid Uddin Ahmed, Member of Physical Sciences of BAEC, Dr Eunuse Akon, Course Director and Dr Feroza Akhter, International Affairs Division of BAEC, spoke at the inaugural ceremony.

A total of 21 eminent scientists from Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam are participating in the training course. Two IAEA experts from Australia and France will be delivering lectures on various aspects of coal quality assessment.