Egypt announces nuclear plant site

EGYPT announced on Wednesday it would build its planned nuclear powerplant on the Mediterranean coast of el-Dabaa which it hopes will start production in 2019, the state news agency MENA reported.

Presidential spokesman Suleiman Awad said President Hosni Mubarak had decided in a meeting that the reactor would be located in el-Dabaa, on the coast west of the port city of Alexandria.

The meeting was ‘extremely important and represents a transition on the path to implement a strategic programme to ensure power supplies and peaceful uses for nuclear energy,’ the agency quoted Mr Awad as saying.

An electricity and energy ministry spokesman said the government hopes the powerplant would be linked to the national grid in 2019.

He said the ministry would open an international tender for the plant which will be decided by the end of this year. ‘We hope it will be up in 2019,’ said Aktham Abu el-Ela. ‘You know we have a crisis when it comes to conventional fuel. This will be a stable source of energy,’ he said.

Electricity minister Hassan Younis had earlier estimated it would cost about four billion dollars (S$5.4 billion) for a 1,000 megawatt powerplant.

Source: The Straits Times

Egypt: Foreign companies propose nuclear technology

Egypt’s Minister of Energy Hassan Younies

Various countries and organizations made presentations this week to be allowed to bid for building the needed technology for Egypt’s quest to establish its nuclear energy generator

Tomorrow, General Electric and Hitachi will present their designs for nuclear reactors in the hope that they will be able to provide their expertise in the field of power generation to Egypt.

Last Thursday, South Korea gave a presentation for building a factory to process nuclear fuel to serve the proposed reactor project Egypt. Several South Korean companies also gave demonstrations showing the current status of their industries and their export capacities.

Detailed specifications on the two main South Korean reactors currently available for export, and subject to American security standards, were also presented.

Source: Egypt News

IAEA support Egypt’s nuclear energy plans

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano said in Cairo on June 22 that the IAEA supports Egypt’s plans to develop a nuclear power station project and will send experts for further consultation and technical support.

In 2007, Egyptian president Muhammed Hosni Mubarak announced plans to invest 1.8 billion U.S. dollars in nuclear power projects.

The Egyptian government contracted with WorleyParsons Group of Australia in 2009 June to construct the first nuclear power plant, which is currently undergoing the site-selection process as arranged.

Source: People’s Daily Online

Worleyparsons signs $160 million contract for Egypt nuclear project

WorleyParsons Ltd., Australia’s biggest engineering company, signed a nuclear-energy consulting and engineering contract with the government of Egypt, Cabinet spokesman Magdy Rady said today in an interview.

The contract is worth 896 million Egyptian pounds ($160 million), Electricity and Energy Minister Hassan Younes told reporters today after signing the deal.

Under the contract, the company will provide engineering and advisory services for Egypt’s first nuclear-power plant.

The agreement also includes training Egyptian nuclear engineers, advising on which technology to use and best construction locations, Younes said.

In May, the Egyptian government canceled a similar consulting contract with the Bechtel Group Inc. after disagreements over the legal terms of the contract.

Egypt is studying the construction of as many as 10 nuclear-power plants to meet soaring energy demand, while cutting emissions of greenhouse gases. The country says its energy demand is growing 6.9 percent a year.

Source: Bloomberg

Egypt drops Bechtel as nuclear consultant

Egypt’s Electricity Ministry says it has dropped U.S. construction giant Bechtel as a consultant for the country’s first nuclear reactor.

The state-run news agency quoted a ministry statement Sunday as saying it has chosen Australia’s WorleyParsons for the 10-year consultancy.

In December the ministry said it had picked Bechtel for the $181 million US project. It did not give details but local reports suggest that the deal stalled over terms of operation.

President Hosni Mubarak has announced plans for the nuclear power project to diversify Egypt’s energy resources and preserve the country’s oil and gas.

The entire project is expected to cost between $1.5 billion and $1.8 billion.

Source: Canadian Business Online