Rosatom State Corporation began construction of the El Dabaa nuclear power plant in Egypt on Wednesday. This was reported to TASS by Rosatom.
"We started [the construction of a nuclear power plant in Egypt]," the state corporation said.
This is Egypt's first nuclear power plant and Rosatom's first major project in Africa. A Russian-Egyptian intergovernmental agreement on the construction of the country's first nuclear power plant worth $30 billion, consisting of four power units of 1,200 MW each, was concluded in November 2015 in Cairo. Authorization for the construction of the first unit was issued by the Egyptian authorities to Rosatom State Corporation at the end of June 2022. The permit was granted after the authorities verified that the site was ready to begin construction and that no risks threatened people, the environment, or property, the Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority said at the time.
Along with the signing in 2015 of the Russian-Egyptian agreement on the construction of the El Dabaa NPP, an agreement was made to provide Egypt with a $25 billion state export credit for the construction of the nuclear power plant, which would cover 85% of the work. The Egyptian side should cover the remaining costs by attracting private investors. Payments by Egypt on the loan, provided at 3% per annum, should begin in October 2029. Permission to use the site was obtained by the Egyptian Nuclear Power Plant Authority in 2019.
The nuclear power plant will be built by Rosatom on the country's northern coast, 3.5 km from the Mediterranean Sea in the city of El Dabaa in the Matrouh governorate. Until 2028 Russia will build four blocks of the plant with VVER-1200 reactors and will supply nuclear fuel during the whole life cycle of the NPP (60 years) as well as provide services on personnel training and maintenance and repair within 10 years after each block start-up. The contract also provides for the construction of the first module of dry container storage of spent nuclear fuel by 2028. Egypt expects the NPP to reach full capacity by 2030.
In September 2021, the first groups of specialists from El Dabaa NPP began training at the St. Petersburg branch of the Technical Academy of Rosatom. In total, Rosatom State Corporation plans to train about 1,700 specialists from September 2021 to December 2028. The training will take place at the Rosatom Technical Academy in Russia and the Training Center of the nuclear power plant in Egypt. In Russia, the personnel of El Dabaa NPP will study the Russian language, undergo theoretical training on the materials of the reference nuclear power plant, practical training and internships at the reference Leningrad NPP-2. Then at El Dabaa NPP the personnel will take a course on the differences between the contract NPP and the reference NPP and undergo practical training and on-the-job training.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Rosatom
Based on materials from TASS