Egypt and Russia have agreed in principle on a program to build Egypt’s first nuclear power reactor and the leaders from both countries have witnessed the signing ceremony of, among other bilateral agreements, a project development agreement for a two-unit Russian power plant and desalination plant, reports the Egyptian state-run news agency MENA. Egypt’s President Abd-al-Fattah al-Sisi announced the plan during a joint press conference at Cairo’s Al Qubba presidential palace with Russian President Vladimir Putin who was on a two-day state visit to Egypt.

Putin corroborated the announcement during the press conference. He said Russia would contribute to building “a whole new nuclear power industry”. He further said Russia would contribute not only to the construction of a nuclear power plant, but also to the building of local capacity and the transfer of technology to the Egyptian side.

Prior to the conference, Putin told Egypt’s Al-Ahram daily that Russia “sees promising prospects in the field of high technology, particularly in the areas of nuclear energy, outer space use, and sharing of Russia’s GLONASS satellite navigation system.”

In the area of nuclear energy, Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom and the Egyptian Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA), part of the Ministry of Electricity and Energy, have also signed a preliminary accord to reactivate earlier civilian nuclear energy plans for El Dabaa on the Mediterranean coast 250 km west of Alexandria. The Rosatom Director General Sergey Kirienko has explained the agreement provides for the construction of two nuclear reactors, with the prospect of a further two. He has noted two intergovernmental agreements are now pending – one for nuclear power plant construction near the northern city of El-Dabaa and one for financing in short order.

Deliberations and efforts to construct nuclear power reactors to supply electricity in Egypt have been ongoing for over 30 years due to security, political and economic reasons as well as popular opposition. The Egyptian government says it is pursuing a peaceful, civilian nuclear energy program that will uphold standards of safety, security, nonproliferation and operational transparency. Although some government officials, nonproliferation advocates, and energy experts worldwide have supported that Egypt’s nuclear energy plans, legal and regulatory infrastructure is well developed; others have said the commitment is pending.