CAIRO, February 28. /TASS/. The reactor shell at Unit One of Egypt’s first nuclear power plant (NPP) El Dabaa may be installed in late 2025, a senior executive of JSC Atomstroyexport (part of Rosatom) has told a TASS correspondent.
"There are certain key events, of checkpoints, in any project. This year’s main goal is to install the reactor shell, its heart, at Unit One. The ceremony will take place roughly at the end of the year," said Alexey Kononenko, who is the vice-president of Atomstroyexport and the director of the El Dabaa NPP construction project.
In his words, the project is "making progress at a very good pace," with no delays.
"All the necessary decisions are made promptly," he said. "We are totally satisfied with the quality of our cooperation with the Egyptian side. We are working as a team, and we resolve all issues together."
El-Dabaa is the first nuclear power plant in Egypt to be built by Rosatom in the Matrouh Governorate on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea about 300 kilometers northwest of Cairo. This is Rosatom's first major project in Africa. By 2028, the state corporation will build four units of the plant with VVER-1200 reactors and will supply nuclear fuel throughout the life cycle of the NPP (60 years), as well as provide training, maintenance and repair services for 10 years after the start-up of each unit. The contract also provides for the construction of the first module of dry containerized storage of spent nuclear fuel by 2028. Egypt expects the NPP to reach full capacity by 2030.