The memorandum was signed in New York on September 25 by Rehan Asad, adviser for science and technology to Bangladesh’s prime minister, and Jacob Helberg, the US under secretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment. Bangladesh’s ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party said its media cell announced the signing.
The agreement frames nuclear power as part of a broader energy-security discussion. Bangladesh is building its first nuclear plant at Rooppur and has been pursuing international cooperation in nuclear science and technology. The two governments also recognized the strategic and regional significance of their relationship and the role civil nuclear energy could play in meeting energy needs.
The memorandum is specifically about peaceful civil nuclear cooperation. It records a commitment to high standards of nuclear safety and security, safeguards and non-proliferation. Both countries have safeguards agreements and Additional Protocols in force with the International Atomic Energy Agency and are parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
That safeguards language matters because civilian nuclear cooperation depends on confidence that nuclear materials and technology remain within peaceful, monitored uses. The agreement therefore places oversight alongside energy supply as a core part of the partnership.
The new memorandum follows a broader Bangladesh–US energy cooperation agreement signed in May 2026. That earlier agreement addressed diversification of Bangladesh’s energy sources generally; the latest text narrows the focus to civil nuclear cooperation and its peaceful use.
The reported account of the new memorandum sets out its strategic purpose and safeguards, but does not describe a construction contract, a financing package or a project timetable. Its immediate significance is the formal framework it creates as Bangladesh pursues the Rooppur plant and a more diversified long-term energy mix.