Egypt Makes Further Preparation for Building Its First Nuclear Power Plant; Trainees Going to Russia Soon

PRESS RELEASE

Egypt Makes Further Preparation for Building Its First Nuclear Power Plant; Trainees Going to Russia Soon

Nov. 14, 2016 (EIRNS)—Egyptian Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy spokesman Ayman Hamza said today that in preparation for the construction of Egypt’s first nuclear power plant at Dabaa, it will send 1,711 engineers and technicians to Russia to get trained, according to Sputnik. The contract with Rosatom to build the first nuclear power plant could be signed next month, Sputnik wrote. "If the agreement is signed by the end of the year, the first group of trainees will be sent next April" to Russia, Hamza said.

In June 2014, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, facing a huge power shortage in the country, proposed building nuclear power plants. Receiving offers from Russia, Japan, and South Korea, he apparently accepted the Russian offer. What attracted Egypt’s attention the most is Russia’s state-owned firm Rosatom’s offer of a $25 billion loan to build the reactors. The Russian proposal stated that it would finance 85% of the project, with Cairo paying the remainder. Egypt will eventually repay the loan at 3% interest, over a 22-year period that begins in 2029.