The Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA) announced on Monday that Egypt and Russia are preparing to install the first nuclear unit at al-Dabaa plant on the Mediterranean coast on October 6, coinciding with the celebrations of the October war victory.
The NPPA posted on its Facebook page, reporting the Russian agency Tass, that nuclear equipment will be installed in the nuclear power unit at the Dabaa plant, with the participation of Russian company Rosatom.
The Chairman of the NPPA Amgad al-Wakil said that: “This year, permission will be obtained for the construction of the fourth power unit and the pouring of the first concrete will begin, which is one of the main milestones in the implementation of the project, and we will also witness the installation of the first nuclear equipment at the first power unit – the ‘melt trap’ on October 6 this year.”
A nuclear milestone
The Dabaa nuclear plant will be operated with a full capacity of 4,800 megawatts by 2030, the head of the Nuclear Power Plants Authority in Egypt, Amgad al-Wakeel, said in December.
In statements to Egyptian media, Wakeel said that the first nuclear reactor with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts will be operated to generate electricity according to the schedule of the commercial project in 2020, pointing out that the rest of the reactors will be operated successively to be operated at full capacity by 2030.
Rosatom is constructing the Dabaa nuclear plant, under an agreement signed between Moscow and Cairo in November 2015.
The first nuclear power plant in the history of Egypt will consist of four power units with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts, and it will operate the advanced Russian nuclear reactors VVER-1200 of the third generation that meet the highest safety standards.
