Egypt’s Electricity Ministry says the country’s Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA) will in January invite bids from international firms to build a pressurized water reactor with a capacity of 0.95-1.65GW at Dab’a on the Mediterranean, 150km west of Alexandria. A ministry official tells MEES that NPPA has started work on the infrastructure at the Dab’a site and that plant capacity will depend on the successful vendor’s proposal.
An NPPA official told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in June that Egypt was ready to invite bids, having enacted a nuclear law, established an independent regulatory body, selected a technology, developed a fuel strategy and prepared a bid specification in line with IAEA requirements. Earlier tender plans were postponed following the January 2011 overthrow of Husni Mubarak. More recently, President Muhammad Mursi – himself overthrown in July – invited Russian state firm Rosatom to help conduct studies for the Dab’a plant and build an experimental reactor at Anshas (MEES, 26 April). (CONTINUED - 562 WORDS)
