The first country from this region, which decided to acquire its own nuclear electricity production capabilities with Russia’s help was the Arab Republic of Egypt. It should be recalled that this state has already had the experience of nuclear cooperation with the USSR. The nuclear program of Egypt began in the 1950s under the then President of Egypt, Gamal Nasser. Back then a research center was established in Inshas, a small town some 40 miles from Cairo, where Soviet specialists built a small research reactor of the ETRR-1 family. In the late 1980s, Egyptian experienced nuclear energy aspirations decline, since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster undermined the confidence that most governments had in the future of peaceful nuclear technologies. However, some Egyptian projects in this are were carried on. For instance, in 1998 a second nuclear reactor was built in Inshas with the help of Argentinian scientists. However, the reactors – both Soviet and Argentin – are not designed to fulfill the demand of the Egyptian economy, since they’re only capable of producing radioisotopes for medical, industrial and agricultural purposes.
Over the last decades, Egypt accumulated a considerable scientific and technical potential along with acquiring enough scientific personnel in this area to launch new projects. Additionally, this country has established facilities that enable Cairo to process used nuclear fuel. It should also be noted that Egypt has at least four uranium deposits at its disposal. Thus, this country is fully prepared to make a step forward and start using nuclear energy on an industrial scale, since all of its activities in the nuclear field are being constantly monitored by the IAEA and there’s virtually no obstacles that could prevent Egypt from enjoying the benefits of cheap nuclear electricity.
In 2006, the Egyptian authorities announced their desire to build a number of nuclear power plants. At that point Egypt started searching for foreign partners that would share their technologies with its scientists and make investments in the project. At the final stage, the country faced a choice between China, the US and Russia and here’s where decades of Soviet-Egyptian cooperation kicked in. In 2008, an agreement on cooperation in the field of peaceful nuclear energy was concluded between Egypt and Russia. This document gave Russia the chance to compete for the contract on the construction of the first Egyptian nuclear power plant.
The decision on who was going to fulfill the contract was to be made by Cairo on January 2011, but the political events that were taking back then in Egypt jeopardized the stated schedule. Nevertheless, Egypt did not abandon its nuclear program since the country is in dire need of cheap electricity, the production of which won’t affect the environment in the long run. In addition, in recent years, Egypt has been undergoing a tough transition, but its development of the peaceful atom will help it to maintain the status of one of the leaders of the Arab world. Therefore, the government of Abdul-Fattah As-Sisi recognized the development of Egyptian nuclear capabilities as a strategically important project for Egypt.
In 2015, it was finally announced that Russia would be building Egypt’s fist nuclear power plant. According to the head of the Egyptian state, Russian technologies were chosen due to their high level of security. It seems that after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster increased reliability of nuclear power plants has been been the primary concern of virtually all the states engaged in nuclear energy. Yet, Russian nuclear reactors meet the most demanding safety requirements and are able to prevent an nuclear catastrophe even in the event of a natural disaster, similar to the one that hit Japan back in 2011. Abdul-Fattah Al-Sisi has also noted in one of his speeches that Russia’s deal was the most economically viable. Therefore, back 2015, Russia and Egypt signed an agreement on bilateral cooperation in the construction and maintenance of the first Egyptian nuclear plant power, powered by four units. At the same time, Russia decided to provide Egypt with a loan of 25 billion dollars to make this project possible. Then Egypt would allocate a margin of profits produced by the station to return the debt. The station is going to be located, as planned, near the city of El-Dabaa, on the Mediterranean Sea coast.
The Russian state corporation Rosatom will take care of the construction that is believed to take 12 years. Last year it was reported that Russian specialists had already started preparing a construction site for the future station. However, to begin construction, it was first necessary to sign a number supplementary documents – contracts that enable Egyptian personnel training and nuclear fuel supplies. It was expected that the entire package of documents will be signed before the end of 2016. At the end of December 2016, the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy announced that negotiations are nearing the end and all contracts will be signed soon. The reason for the delay was the issues related to the schedule of the transfer of Russia’s loan.
In January 2017, a delegation of representatives of the Egyptian Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Justice and other departments visited Moscow to hold talks with the Russian government and the representatives of Rosatom. According to the Egyptian side, during the negotiations in Moscow all the disputed issues were successfully resolved.
In early February 2017, Egypt’s Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy announced to the media that the contracts were almost coordinated. Their signing is scheduled for April 2017.
The construction of the first in Egypt nuclear power plant in El-Dabaa can open a new horizon for Rosatom. After all, the development of the nuclear program of Egypt is observed by its neighbors, such as Algeria, Sudan, Libya, etc. If the Egyptian project succeeds, and the El-Dabaa nuclear power plant gets filly operational within the timetable, these countries may also become interested in Russian nuclear technologies. North Africa is a vast region with a developing economy that badly needs cheap electricity. None of local players possess nuclear technologies, so it can be stated that Russian nuclear scientists are the first to open this market.
Dmitry Bokarev, expert politologist, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook“
No comments:
Post a Comment