MOSCOW, July 8. /TASS/. Rosatom has begun assembling the fourth reactor pressure vessel for Egypt's El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant at one of the state corporation's machine-building facilities, the company said in a statement.
The reactor vessel will be manufactured at the Atommash plant, part of Rosatom's Machine-Building Division, in the Rostov Region. Assembly began ahead of Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev's visit to the construction site, where he is scheduled to attend a ceremony marking the installation of the reactor vessel for Unit 2.
Rosatom's machine-building division has already manufactured and shipped reactor vessels for the plant's first and second power units. Russian facilities are currently producing the reactor vessel for Unit 3, as well as 12 steam generators for Units 2, 3, and 4, along with other key nuclear island equipment.
El Dabaa is Egypt's first nuclear power plant. It is being built in the city of El Dabaa in Matrouh Governorate on the Mediterranean coast, about 300 km northwest of Cairo. The plant will consist of four 1,200 MW power units equipped with Russian-designed Generation III+ VVER-1200 pressurized water reactors, the latest technology of its kind with successful reference projects already in operation. Construction is being carried out under a package of contracts that entered into force on December 11, 2017.
Under the agreements, the Russian side will not only build the plant but also supply nuclear fuel throughout its operating lifetime, assist Egyptian partners with staff training during operation, and provide maintenance support during the first 10 years of operation. Under a separate contract, Russia will also build specialized storage facilities and supply containers for spent nuclear fuel.