Egypt authorises Russia's ROSATOM to finalise first-ever nuclear power plant
The long-awaited nuclear power plant costs US$28.75 billion; about 85% of the cost has been financed by Russia and paid by Egypt over a 22-year loan with an annual 3 per cent interest rate as per a bilateral agreement signed in 2015.
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The new unit is the last of the project executed by Rosatom's in Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant. [Getty]
This week, Egypt's nuclear regulator permitted the Russian state atomic energy corporation ROSATOM to develop the fourth unit of the country's first-ever nuclear plant with a 120-megawatt capacity.
The new unit is the last of the project carried out by the Russian company inside El-Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant, located in Dabaa city in the Mediterranean Marsa Matrouh province about 320 kilometres northwest of Cairo, Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority (ENRRA) said in an official statement on Wednesday.
ENRRA board chairman Sami Shaaban told reporters in Cairo that the authority has been closely monitoring the building of all the mega project's phases that are under construction "via on-sight inspections."
"All necessary procedures have been taken to ensure the highest international standards of precautionary measures as the safety of the unit has been verified to pose no risk to humans, the environment or properties," the statement read.
The long-awaited nuclear power plant costs US$28.75 billion; about 85% of it is financed by Russia and paid by Egypt over a 22-year loan with an annual three per cent interest rate as per a bilateral agreement signed in 2015.
No further details were immediately available regarding when the plant will be ready to operate.
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