Egypt to sign contract with Russia on NPP construction in January

The final agreement with Russia’s Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation on the construction of Egypt’s first nuclear power plant in El Dabaa will be signed in January 2016, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy of Egypt Mohamed Shaker told a news conference in Cairo on Monday. According to him, "The negotiations with the Russian side are to be completed in mid-January." "Russia, which has built 96 reactors around the world, has accumulated a wealth of experience," said the minister, "and Rosatom’s offer has been recognized the best financially and technically, as well as in terms of safety." The Russian-Egyptian intergovernmental agreement on the construction in Egypt of a nuclear power plant comprising four power units with the capacity of 1,200 MW each was signed in Cairo on November 19. Rosatom chief Sergei Kiriyenko and Mohamed Shaker signed the document in the presence of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. The sides also then concluded an agreement on the provision of a state export credit to Cairo for its construction worth $25 billion. The agreement, among other things, fixes the parameters of the Egyptian nuclear power plant to be built with the use of Russian technologies and outlines further steps to develop nuclear infrastructure in Egypt. It also provides for the NPP’s supply with nuclear fuel, commitments of operation, technical maintenance and repairs of the power units. The document prescribes how to handle spent nuclear fuel; train the nuclear power plant’s personnel; help Egypt to improve its rules and regulations in the nuclear power industry and nuclear infrastructure.