Egypt’s nuclear authority has granted permission for the construction of the fourth and final unit of the country’s first nuclear power plant, at El-Dabaa on the Mediterranean shore about 184 miles northwest of Cairo.
The plant is being built by the Russian state-owned nuclear energy corporation Rosatom.
The Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority issued a statement this week saying it had approved the fourth unit’s construction process after a comprehensive inspection that verified the unit’s safety.
“The safety of the fourth unit of the Dabaa nuclear power generation plant was verified, and no risks were proven to threaten humans, the environment, and properties,” the statement said.
Egypt and Russia signed an agreement to build the plant in 2017, during a meeting in Cairo between President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and President Vladimir Putin.
In June 2022, Rosatom announced that it had won approval to start building the plant, which will consist of four units with a capacity of 1200 MW each. Construction began the following month.
The second unit was approved in October 2022, and the third in March 2023.
The total construction cost is expected to be $28.75 billion, of which about $25 billion, 85%, is being financed by Russia through a 22-year repayment loan. Egypt is paying the remaining 15% in installments.