April 8, 2021, El-Dabaa, Egypt – Dr. Mohamed Shaker, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy of Egypt, and Mr. Alexander Lokshin, First Deputy Director General for Nuclear Power of Rosatom State Corporation, President of ASE EC JSC, paid a working visit to the construction site of El-Dabaa NPP.
Other participants of the visit were Dr. Amged El-Wakeel, Board Chairman of Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA), Dr. Sami Atallah, Chairman of Egyptian Nuclear & Radiological Regulatory Authority (ENRRA), as well as the management of Engineering Department of the Armed Forces of the ARE, representatives of the Ministry of Technical Education of Egypt, project teams of Rosatom State Corporation Engineering Division and NPPA.
Mr. Alexander Lokshin, First Deputy Director General for Nuclear Power of Rosatom State Corporation, President of ASE EC JSC, noted: “As Rosatom, we take a great pride in the fact that it was us who were trusted with construction of the first nuclear power plant in Egypt. We understand our responsibility and are ready to make every effort for successful implementation of this project”.
Dr. Mohamed Shaker, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy of Egypt, stated: “The construction project of El-Dabaa NPP is considered as one of landmarks in Egyptian-Russian relations and is undoubtedly one of the most important projects of cooperation between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Russian Federation, elevating these relations to a new strategic height. It was essential to have a careful approach to the choice of a partner who will be able to implement the project and is experienced in this area, taking into account the highest safety standards. We have found all of this in Rosatom State Corporation”.
Dr. Amged El-Wakeel, Board Chairman of Nuclear Power Plants Authority, added that “continuous monitoring and constructive partnership between the Egyptian and Russian parties will certainly deliver outstanding results”.
In the course of its visit, the delegation attended the site of power units construction, where it was reported on the current progress of works. It also examined harbor installations which are intended to be used for transportation of heavy equipment to the NPP.
The delegation also visited a settlement for accommodation of the Russian staff working at the facility, where a standard apartment was demonstrated, and inspected the sports center, school and kindergarten for the employees located on the site.
In conclusion, there was a visit to the Technical School of Nuclear Technologies in the town of El-Dabaa, where the delegation was welcomed by Dr. Amr Basila, Minister of Technical Education, while the school students greeted the members of delegation in Arabic, English and Russian. The visitors examined classrooms and made acquaintance with the students.
For reference
El-Dabaa NPP
El-Dabaa NPP is the first nuclear power plant in Egypt that will be built in the town of El-Dabaa, Matrouh Governorate, on the Mediterranean coast, about 300 km north-west of Cairo.
The NPP will consist of 4 power units, the capacity of each being 1200 MW, with VVER-1200 reactors (pressurized water reactor) of 3+ Generation. This is a state-of-the-art technology already having references and being operated successfully. There are four units with reactors of this generation in Russia: at the sites of Novovoronezh and Leningrad nuclear power plants. Outside Russia, one power unit with VVER-1200 reactor was connected to the grid at Belarus NPP in November 2020.
The NPP is being constructed in compliance with a package of contracts which took effect on December 11, 2017. According to its contractual obligations, the Russian party will not only build the power plant, but will also supply the Russian nuclear fuel for the entire lifecycle of the NPP, will assist the Egyptian partners in the staff training and provide operation and maintenance support for the first 10 years of NPP operation. Within the framework of another agreement, the Russian party will build a special storage and supply storage containers for spent nuclear fuel.