Nuclear power arrives in Africa in 2020, Egypt is persuaded by the Russians

Nuclear power arrives in Africa in 2020, Egypt is persuaded by the Russians

Energy · ·

While the world is rethinking the future of nuclear power plants, Egypt decides to open its first nuclear power station at al-Dabaa thanks to a partnership with Russia's Rosatom.

While skirmishes over Iranian nuclear issues are returning to the front pages following Washington's U-turn on the international agreement, Egypt is throwing open its doors to this extremely dangerous form of energy thanks to Moscow's "complicity". Egypt's first nuclear power station will in fact be built at El-Dabaa by the Nuclear Power Plants Authority (Nppa), in collaboration with the Russian company Rosatom. The plant will be built on the Mediterranean coast, approximately 170 kilometres west of Alexandria, on the site of a research reactor built by the Soviets in the 1950s. Setting aside South Africa's two Koeberg reactors, the Egyptian plant is the first to be built on the African continent.

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accordo egitto russia nucleare
Meeting between Russian president Putin and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi

4 reactors and 22 billion euros

The project envisages the construction of four reactors by 2020, with the completion of the plant by 2025. The first phase of the project is expected to cost 9 billion euros, rising to a total of 22 billion euros.

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85 per cent of the costs will be covered by a Russian loan, with the interest on the loan after settlement estimated at 4.5 billion euros, although this could increase should the Egyptian currency fall against the dollar. Rosatom will build and operate the plant of over 5 gigawatts for 60 years.

Last year @rosatom said it had an order book worth $134 billion and contracts to build 22 nuclear reactors in nine countries over the next decade, including Belarus, Bangladesh, China, India, Turkey, Finland, Hungary, Egypt and Iran: themoscowtimes.com/2019/05/09/rus… Via @atomicnews

Radioactive waste will be processed in Russia

Egypt will export spent nuclear fuel to Russia for treatment and processing before taking it back to be stored underground.

operatori nucleare
The Egyptian school will train nuclear sector operators © Flickr

A school to train the future workers of the nuclear power station

Egypt's president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has supported the establishment of the El Dabaa Atomic Technical School, the first of its kind in Egypt. The aim of the school is to train a new generation of technicians specialised in the latest technologies for the operation and management of nuclear facilities. The institute admitted 75 students for its first year, in preparation for their joining the workforce at the El-Dabaa nuclear power station.