Jan 10, 2008
CAIRO (AFP) — Egypt's first nuclear reactor will be built at Dabba on the Mediterranean coast west of the main port of Alexandria, Electricity and Power Minister Hassan Younis said on Thursday.
The site, 160 kilometres (100 miles) west of Alexandria, "meets all the safety conditions and the requirements of operating an electricity generating nuclear plant," Younis said in a statement.
Egypt's nuclear stations authority "started measures and studies on Dabba which was chosen as a site for constructing the first nuclear station for peaceful purposes," it said.
Younis said that his ministry had worked out a draft bill to be put to parliament in March that sets a legal framework for cooperation with the UN's nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency "until 2030."
"The Egyptian programme is transparent and certified by the international community and the IAEA," said Younis.
Last October, President Hosni Mubarak announced the beginning of a national plan for setting up nuclear plants for peaceful usage.
Egypt initiated a nuclear energy programme in the 1970s but abandoned it in 1986 after the Chernobyl disaster.