UPDATE 2: Egypt, Russia sign Dabaa nuclear plant deal

Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi oversaw the signing of the first Egyptian nuclear plant deal between Egypt and Russia on Thursday.

El-Sisi said that the new power plant will consist of “four third-generation reactors,” describing them as the most up-to-date reactors that have been innovated.

El-Sisi also said that the project is "peaceful" and aims to produce electricity.

Sergey Kiriyenko, the head of Russia's state-owned nuclear firm Rosatomalong, along with a Russian delegation, signed the Dabaa nuclear plant deal with the Egyptian government in Cairo's Ittihadeya palace.

First nuclear plant

"The Dabaa nuclear plant will be the largest Russian-Egyptian project since the Aswan dam," Kiriyenko told the media on Thursday referring to the High dam built in the 60s. "It will mark a truly new chapter in the history of our bilateral relations."

"The plant will make Egypt the regional leader in the field of nuclear technologies and the only country in the region that will have a generation 3+ plant," he added.

The plant, expected to be constructed within 12 years, will consist of four nuclear power units, 1,200 megawatt (MW) each.

In a televised speech following the signature of the deal, the Egyptian president said that the cost of the station would be covered by a loan that will last for 35 years through the period of the production of electricity from the Dabaa station.

The Egyptian president also made clear that Egypt is committed to the international conventions prohibiting proliferation of nuclear weapons and nuclear plants.

El-Sisi stressed that the project is 'for peaceful purposes' and highlighted that Egypt has always had the "dream of a peaceful nuclear programme."

"This project marks the first step towards our future plans that will entitle us to cooperate more in the nuclear industry with other countries," El-Sisi said.

All countries in the Middle East, excluding Israel, are parties to the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, whose 191 signatories have agreed to nuclear disarmament for countries with nuclear weapons, non-proliferation in those that don't have them, and the peaceful use of nuclear energy everywhere...............http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/169157.aspx
19/11/15
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