Egypt To Push Ahead With Nuclear Energy, Says President
Written by NucNet
Monday, 29 October 2007
NucNet News No. 231
29 Oct (NucNet): Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak said today that Egypt
will start a programme to construct several new nuclear reactor units.
Mr Mubarak said he is to establish a "higher council for the peaceful use of nuclear energy". He said Egypt's resolve to go through with the construction of new nuclear units is "part and parcel of Egypt's national security system".
Steps to establish the country's first commercial nuclear power plant in cooperation with "various international partners" and the International Atomic Energy Agency will be carried out within a framework of transparency and respect of commitments to the nuclear non-proliferation system, Mr Mubarak said in an official government statement.
Mr Mubarak did not say exactly how many units Egypt is planning, what designs might be considered or when construction is likely to begin.
In September 2006, Mr Mubarak's son told a party conference that the country's need to explore other forms of energy including nuclear power has become "extremely urgent".
Gamal Mubarak, who is considered as a possible future presidential candidate, told the National Democratic Party of Egypt that his father had already asked party officials to put nuclear energy on their discussion agenda.
Egypt does not have any commercially operational nuclear reactor units. It does have two research reactors, both owned and operated by the Atomic Energy Authority of Egypt. One is used for neutron research and radiography, and the other for neutron physics and the production of radioisotopes.
Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
Russia May Soon Begin Nuclear Projects In Egypt (News in Brief No. 62, 1 December 2004)
Nuclear Goes Back On Agenda In Egypt (World Nuclear Review No. 38, 22 September 2006)
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