Installation of the core localisation device (melt trap) has begun at unit 4 of Egypt’s El Dabaa NPP being built in the province of Matruh on the Mediterranean coast, about 300 kilometres northwest of Cairo. The melt trap was delivered to the El Dabaa construction site from Russia in November. The total weight of the melt localisation device is more than 700 tonnes and the weight of the case 155 tonnes. The cone-shaped core catcher is a container made of thermally resistant steel which, in the unlikely event of an emergency, will securely hold the melted reactor preventing radioactive substances from escaping from the reactor containment.
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 2017. The $30bn project is mainly financed through a $25bn Russian loan. Rosatom will 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 reference plant for El Dabaa is the Leningrad-II NPP. Construction of all four units is planned for completion by 2028-2029, and Egypt expects that the NPP will reach full capacity by 2030.
“The melt trap is one of the key safety components of generation 3+ power units. It is symbolic that we are starting its installation at the fourth power unit on Egypt’s Nuclear Energy Day,” commented Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev. “Work on the construction of all four units of the first nuclear power plant in Egypt is in full swing in compliance with all international requirements. In each of its projects, Rosatom puts safety at the forefront, and the Egyptian construction project is no exception.”
Egypt’s Minister of Electricity & Renewable Energy, Mahmoud Esmat, confirmed that the El Dabaa project is under constant monitoring and work is progressing according to schedule. He explained the energy sector’s strategy based on diversification of power generation sources, and the use of new, renewable and clean energy sources to reduce fuel consumption and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. He noted the importance of using peaceful nuclear energy as part of the sustainable development strategy to achieve goals in various fields, especially in electricity production.
The installation of equipment of units 3&4 of Egypt’s first NPP is being carried out jointly by specialists from the mechanical installation department and the mechanisation department of the Egyptian branch of Russia’s TITAN-2. The head of the mechanical installation department of the branch, Leonid Kostyuchenko, said installation of the melt trap consists of several key steps.
“First, the site and foundation are prepared: thorough geodetic work is carried out, a special footing is laid, and the foundation is levelled,” he noted. “Next, our colleagues from the mechanisation department organise delivery from the warehouse directly to the construction site of unit 4, where the trap body is then installed using a modern ZOOMLION ZCC32000 crane. The next stage will be the assembly of the melt localisation device, in parallel with which general construction operations will continue at unit 4.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s State Duma (parliament) has ratified the protocol to the 2015 agreement between the governments of Russia and Egypt on the provision of a state export loan to Egypt for the construction of the NPP. The document was signed in Moscow in July and in Cairo in September. “The total loan in the amount of $25bn is 85% of the cost of building the NPP,” said Deputy Head of the Ministry of Finance, Vladimir Kolychev.
Repayments of the export loan are scheduled to start upon commissioning of the plant and will be spread over two decades. Egypt expects the four-unit plant to reach full capacity in 2030. Ratification of the protocol will contribute to the settlement of debt obligations to the Russian Federation, as well as the development of further economic, scientific and technical cooperation in the field of peaceful uses of atomic energy, which is fully in the interests of Russia, the State Duma committee on international affairs noted.
