A ceremony marking the pouring of first concrete for the foundation slab of unit 2 of Egypt’s El Dabaa NPP has taken place. The ceremony was attended by the Minister of Electricity & Renewable Energy of Egypt, Mohammed Shaker; the Chairman of the Egyptian Nuclear Power Plant Authority (NPPA), Amged El-Wakil; the General Director of Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev; the Senior Vice President of JSC ASE (Rosatom Engineering Division) for NPP Construction Project Management, Alexander Korchagin; and project teams ASE and NPPA. This came after the Egyptian Nuclear & Radiological Regulatory Authority issued a permit for unit 2 construction in October.

The El-Dabaa NPP will comprise four units with generation III+ VVER-1200 pressurised water reactors. The NPP is being constructed in accordance with contracts that entered into force in December 2017 based on an inter-governmental agreement signed by Egypt and Russia in 2015. Russia will arrange for the training of the Egyptian personnel, and assist in the operation and maintenance of the plant for the first 10 years. The $30 billion project is mainly financed through a $25 billion Russian loan.

“It is symbolic that such an important technological event as the pouring of the first concrete into the foundation of the second power unit coincided with the birthday of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi,” said Energy Minister Mohammed Shaker. “I am sure that the NPP will make a great contribution to the qualitative improvement of the standard of living in the country and will allow Egypt to take its rightful place among the technological leaders in the region.”

Rosatom’s Alexey Likhachev said the start of construction of unit 2 indicates that the project is gaining momentum. “Rosatom continues to actively work abroad: we are building 34 power units in 11 countries. But the project in Egypt is of particular importance for us, because El-Dabaa will be the first NPP on the African continent built using Russian technology. This is the largest Russian-Egyptian cooperation project since the construction of the Aswan Dam.” 

NPPA Chairman Amged El-Wakil said: “The start of the main stage of construction of power units 1&2 this year is a large-scale achievement of the NPP construction project, which demonstrates the level of support for the project from the leadership of our two countries. … Our joint achievements are a reflection of fruitful cooperation. I am also inspired by Egypt's success in establishing itself as a regional leader in the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and this, I am sure, will serve the benefit of the regions of the Middle East and North Africa.”

The engineering division of Rosatom, ASE, has also begun mass selection of Egyptian workers for the construction of the El-Dabaa NPP. The Egyptian branch of Trest RosSEM (part of ASE) began the selection of local workers for the vacancies of a concreter, reinforcement fitter and assembler of reinforced concrete structures. Currently, 860 people have been selected from 1,322 applicants, and it is planned to employ 1,000 Egyptian workers by the end of the year.

“The Ministry of Labour and Emigration of Egypt helps in organising the selection,” said Oleg Borodin, General Director of Trest RosSEM LLC. “We were given an office in the premises of the department not far from the construction site of the El-Dabaa NPP. There, our personnel department conducts interviews and assesses the professional level of candidates. At the end of the first quarter of 2023, it is planned to open a construction personnel assessment and training centre for the plant, where applicants will be selected. In 2023, we expect to recruit about 2,000 more local residents.”

The selection of local personnel takes place in three stages: the first is theoretical, which determines the level of literacy, knowledge of construction terminology and labour protection requirements (at this stage, about 20% of candidates are eliminated). The second stage is an assessment of practical skills, candidates show the ability to use electrical and mechanical tools. At the last stage, applicants must assemble a reinforcement cage according to the drawing. Egyptian citizens who have passed the selection are employed at Trest RosSEM LLC for working specialties and are assigned the first or second qualification category.

Now other subsidiary construction organisations of the Engineering Division are deploying their bases at the construction site of the El-Dabaa NPP and will also begin mass recruitment of workers in the near future. It is expected that at the peak of the construction of the four units of the station, about 30,000 Egyptian workers will be employed on the site.

Image: Ceremony marking pouring of first concrete for unit 2 of Egypt’s El Dabaa NPP (courtesy of NPPA)