Egypt to float international tender for nuclear station
Egyptian nuclear programme was frozen after Chernobyl disaster
After freezing its nuclear programme following the Chernobyl disaster of 1986, Egypt will launch an international tender to build its first nuclear station in January 2014, announced Aktham Abouelela, a spokesman from the country’s Electricity Ministry.
On the eve of talks between Egyptian and Russian officials on cooperation between the two countries, Abouelela said, “The Nuclear Power Plants Authority plans to launch the first international tender in January to build a nuclear station in Dabaa.
“It will be a pressurised water reactor with a capacity of 950 to 1650 megawatts. The station will have two units,” he added.
The country’s nuclear plans were announced to be revived in 2006, but tender preparation was stalled in 2011 when president Hosni Mubarak was deposed in the midst of the Arab Spring. Fuel shortages since the uprising have strained power generation in the country, said the Reuters report, adding it has led to private suppliers selling services at high prices.
