Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will on 19 November take part in the laying of the reactor vessel for Unit 1 of the El-Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant. Their addresses are scheduled in video-conference format, the office of the head of the North African state reported.
“The holding of this event coincides with Egypt’s observance of its fifth annual Nuclear Energy Day, organised by Egypt in November in commemoration of the signing of the intergovernmental agreement between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Russian Federation on the construction and operation of the El-Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant,” the statement says.
At the end of October, the reactor vessel for the first power unit of the El-Dabaa NPP was delivered to Egypt. It is a key element of the reactor installation. The structure ensures hermetic sealing, withstands high pressures and temperatures, guaranteeing the safety and reliability of the unit’s operation.
The El-Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant is Egypt’s first nuclear power plant. It is being built in the town of El-Dabaa on the Mediterranean coast. The station will consist of four power units with a capacity of 1.2 thousand megawatts each. In September 2025, Egypt’s Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mahmoud Esmat announced that the construction of the four power units is to be completed by 2029.
The station is being built under contracts from 2017, according to which Russia will not only build the plant but also supply nuclear fuel throughout the plant’s operating life, as well as train the station’s specialists for the first ten years of operation. In addition, the Russian side will build spent-fuelb storage facilities and provide containers for storing spent nuclear fuel. (African Initiative/GSF)
