In the course of the joint visit of a high-level delegation to El-Dabaa NPP, Alexey Likhachev, Director General of ROSATOM, met with Dr Mohamed Shaker, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Sources and Dr Amged El-Wakeel, Chairman of the Nuclear Power Plants Authority of Egypt.
The delegation made a tour around the NPP construction site to check the status of the works that are underway, visited the seaport built for the future NPP, listened to reports about the progress of the construction works at Units No 1, 2 and 3 and the preparatory works at Unit 4 in view of the future pouring of “first concrete”.
“Construction of the first three Units of El-Dabaa NPP is going in full compliance with the schedule. Preliminary works are underway on the site of Unit 4. By the end of this year, we expect to obtain the construction license for Unit 4 from the supervisory authority of Egypt – the Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority. After this, we will be able to carry out the first concrete pouring, which will mean the beginning of the main stage of Unit 4 construction”, said Alexey Likhachev, Director General of ROSATOM.
During the visit, the Minister of Electricity of Egypt and the Director General of ROSATOM also participated in the official ceremony of opening of the administrative building of the Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA) established at the NPP site.
During the visit, Dr Shaker expressed a high opinion of the level of relations between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Russian Federation, explaining that the history of bilateral relations dates back to the 50s of the last century, when the Soviet Union assisted Egypt in the construction of the Aswan Dam, the metallurgical complex in Hilwan and the aluminium smelter in Nag Hammadi. Besides, it was the Soviet Union that supplied Egypt with the country’s first research reactor launched in 1961. The relationship between the two countries reached its fullest development and blossomed with the current Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. It was during this period that Russia was chosen by Egypt as a strategic partner for the implementation of the project of construction of the first NPP in the country.
Dr Amged confirmed that the Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA) is committed and making every possible effort to implement the dream of all the Egyptians – the start-up of the first NPP in Egypt – El Dabaa NPP, in compliance with all the nuclear safety criteria and successful achievement of the milestones of the project’s time schedule. Among such achievements this year we can mention the arrival of the first long lead equipment – the core catcher – at the specialized port of El Dabaa and its delivery to the NPP construction site on March 20. On May 3, the “first concrete” was poured at Unit 3. A year earlier, the “first concrete” was poured at Units 1 and 2.
