A tender to construct Egypt's first nuclear power plant will now be launched by the end of 2014. The tender for the El-Dabaa plant was originally scheduled for earlier this year. Ibrahim El-Osery, the Ministry of Electricity's adviser for nuclear energy, told the Daily News Egypt newspaper that a global tender for the El-Dabaa plant would be launched by the end of 2014. He was quoted as saying, "One of the tender's conditions is that whoever wins will take the responsibility of financing the project until its implementation." El-Osery said Egypt will pay for the implementation expenses after operations start. He noted, "The costs Egypt saves when using nuclear energy, as opposed to conventional energy, will be used to pay for the project." Back in 1983 the El-Dabaa site on the Mediterranean coast was selected for a nuclear plant, but this scheme was scrapped after the Chernobyl accident. However, in 2006, the same site was named in plans to build a 1000 MWe reactor for electricity generation and water desalination by 2015, in a $1.5-$2 billion project that would be open to foreign participation. Early in 2010 the proposal had expanded to four plants by 2025, the first costing about $4 billion and being on line in 2019 or 2020. However, plans were put on hold in 2011 until the political situation stabilised following the ousting of former president Hosni Mubarak. Local tribal families were reported to have occupied the site of the planned plant in early 2012, damaging existing infrastructure. However, late last year, they relinquished the site to the Egyptian armed forces. According to the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper, the Egyptian Army Corps of Engineers began an EGP13 billion ($1.8 billion) project in May to complete rehabilitation of the plant's infrastructure. This work - including an administrative building, laboratories, storage units, workshops, and water and electricity utilities - is scheduled to be completed by early September. Source: World Nuclear News
