Russian Rosatom State Atomiс Energy Corporation has received permission from Egyptian authorities to establish a second unit for generating electricity at the Dabaa nuclear plant.
This was contained in a statement from the Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority on Monday.
The authority received a request for a construction permit for the first and second units on January 13, 2019.
The Nuclear Power Plants Authority completed its procedures within two years by submitting the initial safety analysis report for the first and second units from January to June 2021.
According to the statement, the authority “made a number of inspection visits to the site of the nuclear plant in Dabaa, in order to determine the extent of the site’s readiness to start the construction of the second unit, including a comprehensive inspection from October 23-27.”
The authority will verify the compliance of the Nuclear Power Plants Authority with the terms of the permission granted and the regulatory control of the work of implementing the construction phase and manufacturing equipment. It will also conduct the necessary inspections, to ensure human and maintain environmental safety.
The head of the Nuclear Power Plants Authority in Egypt, Amgad al-Wakeel, said in December that the Dabaa nuclear plant is expected to be up by 2030. It will be operated with a full capacity of 4,800 megawatts.
Speaking to local media, Wakeel said that the first nuclear reactor with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts will be operated to generate electricity according to the schedule of the commercial project in 2020.
The rest of the reactors will be operated successively to be operated at full capacity by 2030, he assured.
Rosatom is constructing the Dabaa nuclear plant based on an agreement signed between Moscow and Cairo in November 2015.
The first nuclear power plant in the history of Egypt consists of four power units with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts and will operate the advanced Russian nuclear reactors VVER-1200 of the third generation with the highest safety standards.