Sergei Kiriyenko, the Head of Russia's Atomic Energy Agency, said his country wants to help build nuclear plants to generate electricity in Egypt and Nigeria, and to take part in the exploration of uranium in Egypt. However, the Ministry of Electricity declined to comment on the Russian official's statements. The Russian official said in Nigeria, where he is accompanying President Dmitry Medvedev on his visit that comes within the framework of an African tour for four days, that Egypt plans to build two to four reactors in the first nuclear power plant, and that Russia will prepare an offer by the end of 2010. Kiriyenko, who was with Medvedev in Cairo the day before yesterday, said financing projects of this nature would be through export credits, and that Russia is interested in Egypt's uranium reserves. "We are definitely interested in the uranium, which they have a lot of. Unfortunately, most of it is in the mountainous areas," he said, pointing out that the price of a reactor starts from about 2.5 billion euros. In return, sources with the Ministry of Electricity and Energy declined to comment on the Russian official's statements, saying they are unaware of any agreement signed with the Russian side for uranium exploration in Egypt, or if the matter was discussed during the Russian President's visit to Cairo on Tuesday. Dr. Ezzat Abdel Aziz, the former President of the Atomic Energy Authority, called for putting precise specifications for the reactors that Egypt wants to build. They must take into account selecting the new generations, such as the advanced light-water reactors and the advanced boiling-water reactors, in addition to the inherent-safety reactors.
He said the Western countries are more advanced than the Russians in regards to the advanced reactors, which may reduce the chances of Russian companies winning the tender of the first nuclear plant, unless they gave offers that are compatible with the specifications that Egypt will set. He pointed out that it is possible to use the Russians in the exploration of uranium ore reserves in Egypt, whereby the raw uranium could replace the nuclear fuel that operates the Egyptian nuclear power plant. He said the Nuclear Material Authority uses planes and sensitive devises in the exploration of uranium ore in Egypt so as to know if these sites are economically feasible or not.
