PROJECTS: 'Significant breakthrough expected in Egypt's first nuclear power project in 2021'

Egypt's first nuclear power plant project will witness a significant breakthrough this year, Russia's Rosatom State Atomic Corporation said on Thursday.

 

The announcement was made in a press statement covering last month's joint visit by Egypt's Nuclear Power Plants Authority and Rosatom to El-Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant's construction site to review its progress.

 

The El-Dabaa NPP, located in El-Dabaa City in the Governorate of Matrouh on the Mediterranean Sea, will be powered by four Russian-designed Generation III+ VVER-1200 reactors, each with a capacity of 1.2 gigawatts.

 

According to the statement, the joint delegation was briefed on the status of ongoing construction works, the procurement and supply schedules, and potential Egyptian subcontractors. The delegation also visited the meteorological tower and the under-construction docking facility, which will serve the transportation of the heavy equipment for the nuclear power plant.

 

When commissioned, Grigory Sosnin, Vice President and Director of El-Dabaa NPP Project, said the plant would be the first in the African continent to be equipped with Generation III+ reactors and significantly contribute to reducing CO2 emissions.

 

VVER-1200 reactors are operating in Russia at the Leningrad and Novovoronezh nuclear power plants and outside Russia, in the Belarus nuclear power plant.

 

Under the terms of the contract signed on 11 December 2017, Russia will build the plant and supply nuclear fuel throughout its lifecycle, train Egyptian personnel, assist in operating and maintaining the plant for the first ten years and build a storage facility to store the spent fuel.

 

(Reporting by Syed Ameen Kader; Editing by Anoop Menon)