El Dabaa Export Loan Ratified, As Unit 4's Core Catcher Installed

Wedoany.com Report-Nov 21,  According to Tass, the loan covers 85% of the cost of building the four-unit plant and the ratification of the protocol - which was signed in Moscow in July and in Cairo in September - facilitates "the settlement of debt obligations to the Russian Federation, as well as the development of further economic and scientific-technical cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Arab Republic of Egypt in the field of using nuclear energy for peaceful purposes".

The original government agreement for the construction of the nuclear power plant was signed on 19 November 2015, and its ninth anniversary was marked by the beginning of the installation of the core catcher (also called a melt trap) in unit 4 at El Dabaa.

The 6.1-metre diameter core catcher is a key bit of safety equipment for the VVER-1200 reactor - it is a container in the form of a cone made of thermally resistant steel which in the unlikely event of an emergency will securely hold the melt of the core and not allow radioactive substances to leave the containment of the reactor.

In a ceremony to mark the occasion at El Dabaa - about 320 kilometres north-west of Cairo - Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly thanked all the workers involved on the site and Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mahmoud Esmat noted the importance of using nuclear energy as part of a sustainable development strategy and for achieving its 2030 clean energy goals.

Alexey Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom, said: "The melt trap is one of the key safety components of generation 3+ power units. Work on the construction of all four units of the first nuclear power plant in Egypt is in full swing in compliance with all international requirements. In each of its projects, Rosatom puts safety first, and the Egyptian construction is no exception for us."

El Dabaa will be Egypt's first nuclear power plant, and the first in Africa since South Africa's Koeberg was built nearly 40 years ago. The Rosatom-led project will comprise four VVER-1200 units, like those already in operation at the Leningrad and Novovoronezh nuclear power plants in Russia, and the Ostrovets plant in Belarus.

Rosatom will not only build the plant, but will also supply Russian nuclear fuel for its entire life cycle. It will also assist Egyptian partners in training personnel and plant maintenance for the first 10 years of its operation. Rosatom is also contracted to build a special storage facility and supply containers for storing used nuclear fuel. Construction of the nuclear power plant began in July 2022. 

Repayments of the export loan are scheduled to start upon commissioning of the plant and will be spread over two decades. Egypt expects the four-unit plant to reach full capacity in 2030.