Electricity and Energy Minister Hassan Younes said his ministry "has finished answering the State Council's questions on the Egyptian nuclear bill", pointing out that the State Council "would send back the bill to the Ministry over the next few days. He expected the draft to be submitted to Parliament next January. With regard to the tender held to choose the first Egyptian nuclear power plant's advisor, Younes denied the Ministry had defined the winning company. He also pointed out that the committee in charge of choosing this company, after assessing the bid, held a meeting yesterday. Informed sources at the Ministry of Electricity affirmed the winning company would be announced today and explained that the committee's report would be submitted to the Nuclear Power Plants Authority, chaired by the electricity minister himself, before the winning company is announced. "The Ministry has finished preparing the bill and it is now being reviewed by the State Council" the minister said. "We hope the Council will have completed its revision by the end of this month. It'll then be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers and finally to Parliament." The minister, though, said no date had been set for the State Council to end its revision and send the bill to the ministry. The minister said that whenever a bill is submitted to the State Council, it is normal for there to be questions about the bill itself. He then affirmed that meetings had been held between experts from the Ministry of Electricity and State Council advisors and that the Ministry had answered all the Council's questions. The minister expected the nuclear bill to be submitted to the People's Assembly [the lower chamber of Egypt's parliament] in January, pointing out that President Mubarak has inserted it among the laws that will be submitted to Parliament during this parliamentary session.
