Egypt's cabinet approved on Thursday a deal with Saudi Arabia regarding peaceful cooperation on nuclear power, according to a cabinet press release. The deal was initially signed on 8 April during a visit by Saudi's King Salman Abdel Aziz to Cairo. The agreement aims to establish cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear power and on nuclear security, according to the release. Egypt's government is moving ahead with plans to build the country's first nuclear power plant, expected to be completed in 2022 and operational by 2024. The plant, located in Dabaa in the coastal governorate of Marsa Matrouh, will eventually generate a total of 4,800 megawatts through four reactors. Last week, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi approved a $25 billion loan from Russia to fund the building and operation of the plant. Egypt and Saudi Arabia are already working on connecting their power grids through a $1.6 billion deal, approved by Egypt's cabinet in January 2015, where they would share 3,000 megawatts of electricity by 2017. During King Salman's visit, Egypt and Saudi Arabia also signed final loan agreements worth over $24 billion. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/217740.aspx
