Cairo and Moscow launch second phase of work on nuclear power plant
Rosatom has received permits to continue the atomic project. Having completed safety checks, the authorities have granted the go-ahead. Operational tests within the next four years. From Cop27 in Sharm El Sheikh alarming numbers on disasters caused by weather events in Asia, with billions in damage.
Cairo (AsiaNews) - Egypt, in collaboration with Moscow, which is trading nuclear know-how to revive alliances in the Middle East and North Africa, is preparing to build the second unit of the atomic plant at Dabaa five months after the first.
The Russian state-owned company Rosatom, responsible for the work on the first nuclear power plant in the Land of the Pharaohs, has received permission to start the next step in a project considered strategic by Cairo to meet its energy needs.
The official go-ahead came on 31 October from the board of directors of the Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority (Enrra), which is pressing the accelerator for the power plant being built north-west of Cairo. At this stage, the approval of the Egyptian Nuclear Power Plant Authority (Nppa) has also arrived, which has examined and obtained guarantees for plant safety and the construction process.
A note issued by Enrra explains that the radiological surveys required to verify that the 'highest safety levels' are met for the nuclear project at El-Dabaa in accordance with 'the highest international standards' have been carried out. The authority carried out a series of inspections at the site and started procedures for the construction of the base of the so-called 'containment basin' with a depth of 4 metres, an essential part of the plant along with the safety systems, core, generators and compressor.
Ali Abdel Nabi, former deputy chief Nppa, explains to al-Monitor that the containment basin is designed to withstand a magnitude 8 earthquake, aircraft collision, floods and hurricanes. 'It is equipped,' he adds, 'to protect the station from any natural disaster, to prevent the release of radioactive materials into the environment.
The project includes the construction of four Russian VVER-1200 (AES-2006) units of pressurised water reactors (Pwr) with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts per unit, among the most common reactors in the world. Once the parts are in place, the expert adds, 'operational tests will be conducted, which could start within the next four years'.
Nppa is the owner and executive head of the project, the main contractors are companies linked to Rosatom, while the cost of constructing the reactor is around 30 billion euro. 'Granting permission to build the second unit,' emphasises Maher Aziz, a member of the World Energy Council, 'means that the programme is going well and [...] that the project is so far a success.
Meanwhile, at the UN climate conference (Cop27) scheduled to take place from 6 to 18 this month in Sharm El Sheikh, alarming numbers are emerging about the damage to the economy of Asian nations caused by drought and extreme phenomena: in 2021 there was a 63% increase over the previous 20 years; disasters caused by floods by 23% and those by landslides by 147%.
According to data from the World Meteorological Organisation, last year there were more than 100 natural disasters on the continent, 80% of which were related to floods and storms; at least 48.3 million people were affected by natural disasters, with damage amounting to more than 35 billion euros.
In terms of countries, in 2021, floods caused damage amounting to EUR 18 billion in China, followed by India with EUR 3.2 billion and Thailand around EUR 0.6 billion. ). Storms caused damage mainly in India (4.4 billion), China (three billion) and Japan (two billion).
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