On March 4, 2024, the installation of the second tier of the inner containment of El-Dabaa NPP Unit 2 (Egypt, Engineering Division of Rosatom being the general designer and the general contractor) was completed.
The installation of the second tier of the inner containment for Unit 2 began on February 16, 2025. The work was carried out by two teams, each consisting of more than 80 people. The installation was performed with a heavy-weight crane.
Dr. Mohamed Dwiddar, Board Chairman of the Nuclear Power Plants Authority, stated that “The El-Dabaa NPP Project is not just an engineering masterpiece, but a testament to the strong will of Egyptian experts and engineers and their ability to achieve success and progress across various fields. Today, we celebrate the successful completion of the installation of the second tier of the inner containment for the reactor building of the second nuclear unit, as a result of the combined efforts of the Egyptian team, represented by the Nuclear Power Plants Authority – the owner entity – and the Russian team, represented by Atomstroyexport.”
“Today we installed the second tier of the inner containment of Unit 2 into the design position. It is important to point out that this was implemented ahead of schedule thanks to close interaction between the Egyptian and the Russian Parties and the use of advanced engineering solutions and organization of RPS-project for optimization of the deadlines of installation and concreting. This achievement opens up the perspective of reinforcement and installation of form work with subsequent concreting of the second tier of the internal containment, which is one of the milestones of 2025 for Unit 2,” said Alexey Kononenko, Vice President of ASE JSC – Director for El-Dabaa Construction Project.
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The inner containment is a cylindrical structure, inside which the nuclear reactor and the equipment of the NPP primary circuit will be located. The second tier of the inner containment consists of 12 leaf-type segments, which were manufactured at the production facility at the construction site in Egypt. Each segment is 12 meters long and 14 meters high, weighing from 60 to 90 tons.
El-Dabaa NPP is the first NPP in Egypt. It is being built in the city of El-Dabaa, in the Matruh province on the Mediterranean coast, approximately 300 km. north-west from Cairo. The El-Dabaa NPP consists of four 1200 MW power units equipped with Russian VVER-1200 pressurized water reactors of the latest third generation; these reactors are state-of-the art technologies that have been successfully operated at reference NPPs.
Four nuclear power units of this generation are in operation: two reactors of Novovoronezh NPP and two reactors of Leningrad NPP, two power units of Belarus NPP outside Russia. El-Dabaa NPP is being constructed in accordance with the package of contracts, which entered into force on December 11, 2017. The Russian side will not only build the nuclear power plant, but also supply nuclear fuel throughout the entire El-Dabaa NPP operating life in accordance with its contractual obligations. The Russian party is expected as well to assist Egyptian partners in training NPP operating personnel at the stage of operation and maintenance during the first ten years of the NPP operation. In addition, the Russian side will build special storage facilities and provide special containers for storing spent nuclear fuel under a separate contract.
