Russia and Egypt reached a deal to build Egypt's first nuclear power plant on the country's north coast, in Dabaa city, Russian state atomic energy corporation Rosatom reported on Thursday.
Mohamed Shaker, Egypt's energy minister, and Sergey Kirienko, the head of Rosatom, signed an intergovernmental agreement in Cairo, on Nov.19
The country's first nuclear power plant will be the biggest joint project between two countries and will consist of four reactors with a production capacity of 1,200 megawatts.
Additionally, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Nuclear Supervision and Egypt's regulatory body on nuclear and radiological safety to cooperate on future developments in nuclear infrastructure facilities.
''This is sincerely a new page in the history of Russian-Egyptian intergovernmental relations. The first nuclear power plant will make Egypt a regional technological leader and the region's only country with a NPP 3+ Gen technology,'' said Kirienko.
According to the World Nuclear Association, third generation reactors such as the NPP 3+ has a simpler and more rugged design, higher availability and longer operating life-typically 60 years. They further offer the reduced possibility of core melt accidents, and are resistant to serious damage that would allow radiological release from an aircraft impact, or higher burn-up to use fuel more fully and efficiently and reduce the amount of waste.
The premier third-generation advanced reactors have been operating in Japan since 1996, according to the World Nuclear Association.
According to the country's planning ministry, Egypt currently generates 88 percent of its power from oil and natural gas, and 12 percent by renewables including solar, hydro, wind power plants.
Writing by Ugur Ertas
Anadolu Agency
ugur.ertas@aa.com.tr