The reactor vessel for the Unit 1 of Egypt’s El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant is expected to be installed by the end of 2025, according to Aleksey Kononenko, Vice President of Atomstroyexport and Project Director for El Dabaa.
“We have several key milestones for the project, and the most important task this year is installing the reactor vessel — essentially the heart of the first reactor. Right now, we’re aiming to hold the installation ceremony sometime in the second half of the year,” Kononenko told TASS.
He noted that construction is progressing well, with strong momentum and close cooperation between Russian and Egyptian teams. “We have an excellent working relationship with our Egyptian partners — decisions are made quickly, and we tackle any challenges together. We’re very happy with how smoothly the collaboration is going.”
Once the plant is fully operational, it’s expected to employ around 3,500 Egyptian specialists. Training is already underway — roughly 1,500 workers are currently receiving training from Russian experts, according to Tatyana Terentyeva, Deputy Director General for Human Resources at Rosatom.
“In 2025, we plan to train at least 300 more specialists. We offer both university programs and advanced professional training courses to make sure the workforce is fully prepared to operate the plant safely and efficiently,” she explained. Terentyeva added that nuclear safety will be a top priority during the training process.
“Rosatom is fully committed to providing Egypt with the highly skilled workforce needed to ensure the plant’s safe and reliable operation,” she concluded.
El Dabaa is Egypt’s first nuclear power plant, being developed with the support of Rosatom in the Matrouh Governorate on the Mediterranean coast, about 300 kilometers northwest of Cairo.
The facility will feature four reactors, each with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts, using VVER-1200 pressurized water reactor technology developed in Russia. These reactors represent the latest Generation III+ technology, designed to meet the highest international safety standards.
The project is being carried out under a series of contracts that took effect in December 2017. Under these agreements, Russia will not only build the plant but also supply nuclear fuel for its entire lifespan. In addition, Rosatom will train Egyptian staff and support operations and maintenance for the first ten years. Russia will also construct storage facilities and provide special containers for spent nuclear fuel under a separate contract.
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Photo: RIA Novosti archive/Sergey Venyavsky/Creative Commons 3.0
Based on materials from TASS