CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2019) A delegation of five experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is visiting Egypt to discuss the implementation and safety of a project to build Egypt's first nuclear power plant (NPP) in Dabaa, Ayman Hamzah, a spokesman for the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy, told Sputnik on Sunday.
Hamzah told Sputnik on January 16 that the construction of the residential and administrative infrastructure that is necessary for starting the construction of the reactors of the Dabaa NPP had been completed. The visit of IAEA experts will continue until the end of January.
"The visit of the IAEA delegation is taking place within the framework of a joint coordination with Egypt on the peaceful use of nuclear energy," Hamzah said, adding that the visit is "an important preparatory step toward receiving the necessary technical licenses to start the construction [of the nuclear station]."
Hamzah added that the construction of the reactors was expected to begin in the second half of 2020.
In 2015, Moscow and Cairo signed an intergovernmental agreement to build the Dabaa NPP, with Russia extending a loan to Egypt to cover the cost of construction. The implementation of the project started in December 2017.
The Dabaa NPP will have four 1,200-megawatt generation III+ reactors.
