Production of equipment has begun for unit 1 of El-Dabaa NPP due to begin construction in Egypt, Rosatom said on 1 June. An Egyptian delegation headed by the Chairman of the Egyptian Nuclear Power Plant Authority (NPPA), Amged El-Wakil, paid a working visit to the Leningrad NPP and Russian machine-building enterprises that manufacture NPP equipment. The delegation also included the Chairman of the Nuclear and Radiation Control Authority of Egypt, Sami Atalla, and the Deputy Chairman of the NPPA, Mohamed Ramadan. Russian officials included Alexander Lokshin, First Deputy Director General for Nuclear Energy at Rosatom, and heads of Rosatom divisions and enterprises. The construction of El-Dabaa unit 1 may begin in the first half of July, said Alexander Lokshin. “The formal date is 11 July – maybe a day earlier or a day later," he told reporters.

El-Dabaa – Egypt's first NPP – is to be built in the province of Matruh on the Mediterranean coast, about 300km north-west of Cairo. The station will consist of four VVER-1200 reactors. The plant is being constructed by Rosatom in accordance with contracts that entered into force in December 2017. These specify that Russia will also supply nuclear fuel throughout the lifecycle of the plant, arrange for the training of the Egyptian personnel, and assist in the operation and maintenance of the plant for the first 10 years. The cost of the project is $30 billion, 85% of which is financed through a $25 billion Russian loan.

During the visit, the Egyptian delegation inspected the two VVER-1200 units at the Leningrad NPP, commissioned in 2018 and 2021, including a block control panel, a turbine building and a nuclear power plant training centre. The delegation visited various machine-building enterprises including the plant in Kolpino (St Petersburg), where a ceremony was held to launch the production of blanks for the reactor vessel of El-Dabaa unit 1. They also visited the St Petersburg branch of JSC Atomenergoproekt – the St Petersburg Design Institute and the Technical Academy of Rosatom.

Image: Location of Egypt's first nuclear power plant, El-Dabaa