Egypt’s Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA) has handed over the licensing documentation for construction of units 1 and 2 of El Dabaa NPP to the Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulation Authority (ENRRA), Rosatom said on 1 July.
This marked an important milestone in the implementation of El Dabaa NPP project, allowing the start of preliminary construction, Rosatom noted.
“Since the launch of the Egyptian nuclear project under the auspices of the political leadership, we have spared no effort in implementing the successive commitments related to the project’s development,” said NPPA Board Chairman Dr Amged El-Wakeel. The event was preceded by extensive joint work by NPPA and ASE (engineering division of Rosatomto finalise the licensing documentation. “Today, we are proud to complete this work with the highest quality standards, fulfilling local and international requirements,” he added.
“Thanks to the coordinated efforts of Russian and Egyptian teams, a challenging task of documentation agreement was promptly accomplished, taking into account technical requirements of the EPC contract and adaptation to the site conditions”, noted Dr Grigory Sosnin, Vice President and Director of El-Dabaa NPP Construction Project at ASE.
The El Dabaa sited on the Mediterranean coast, will comprise four 1200MWe units with a Generation III+ VVER-1200 reactor. There are four units operating in Russia equipped with VVER-1200 reactors, two at Leningrad II NPP and the others at Novovoronezh II NPP. Outside of Russia, one VVER-1200 reactor at the Belarus nuclear plant was connected to the grid in November 2020.
The Egyptian nuclear power station is being constructed in accordance with a suite of contracts that entered into force in December 2017. According to the contract, Russia will also supply nuclear fuel throughout the lifecycle of the nuclear plant, arrange for the training of the Egyptian personnel, and will assist in the operation and maintenance of the plant for the first 10 years of its operation. In addition, Russia will build a storage facility for used nuclear fuel.
The construction licence for the first two units may be issued in the first half of 2022, according to, Aiman Hamza, a representative of Egypt’s Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy. He told Tass on 1 July: "It is expected that permission for the construction of the first two reactors will be obtained in the first half of next year," he said. "Then there will be procedures for the preparation of documents for the third and fourth reactors."
