Alexey Likhachev, Rosatom Director General, and Mohamed Shaker, Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, gave the green light to the pouring of the “first concrete” for the El-Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 during the ceremony held to commemorate this historic event.
Dr Amged El-Wakeel, Board Chairman of the Nuclear Power Plants Authority of Egypt (NPPA), the owner and future operator of the El-Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant, awarded honorary plaques commemorating the first concrete pouring to His Excellency Dr Mohamed Shaker, Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Major-General Khaled Shoeib, the Governor of Matrouh, where the project is being built, Dr Samy Shaaban Attallah, Chairman of the Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority (ENRRA), Alexey Likhachev, Rosatom Director General, Alexander Korchagin, Senior Vice President of ASE JSC and Grigory Sosnin, Vice President of ASE JSC and General Supervisor of the El-Dabaa NPP Project Management.
Mohamed Shaker and Alexey Likhachev also awarded members of the joint Russian-Egyptian project team in recognition of their outstanding efforts with commemorative medals.
Earlier, on 29th June 2022, ahead of schedule, the ENRRA issued the construction permit for the El-Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1, allowing concrete pouring to commence.
“The construction launch at the El-Dabaa NPP Unit 1 means that Egypt has joined the nuclear club. The construction of the nuclear power plant will allow Egypt to reach a new level of technology, industry and education development. The plant will be the largest project of the Russian-Egyptian cooperation since the Aswan High Dam,” Alexey Likhachev said.
Amged El-Wakeel, Board Chairman of the NPPA, said, This day would not have been possible without the wise decision of His Excellency Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, to initiate the Egyptian Nuclear Project, following which all state entities sparred no efforts to achieve this common goal through a deep understanding of the nature of Egypt’s Nuclear Programme, as part of the comprehensive renaissance contributing to the new republic.”
Mohamed Shaker also stated: “The ceremony commemorating the pouring of the first concrete for Unit 1 is a great delight for us. The political leadership and the Egyptian-Russian cooperation contributed to the implementation of this ambitious project despite the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, which did not have a negative impact on the project.”