Minister of Electricity and Energy Hassan Younis will visit Moscow on Wednesday to discuss the latest developments in nuclear technology with his Russian counterparts. The visit comes as Egypt moves ahead with plans to develop its first-ever nuclear energy program, which aims to establish several nuclear power plants for the purpose of electricity generation. During his visit, the minister is expected to meet with Russian ministers of trade, industry and energy to discuss the scope for bilateral cooperation on the establishment of Egypt's nuclear energy program. The ministers are also expected to discuss the issues of nuclear raw materials and resource evaluation. Younis is also scheduled to visit several Russian nuclear power stations currently under construction, as well as nuclear plant operation-and-maintenance stations, in order to get a closer look at the technology involved. The minister also plans to visit a Russian factory for nuclear plant components and a nuclear field-training center. In June of last year, Egypt's Ministry of Electricity signed a consultancy services contract for the construction of Egypt's first nuclear power plant with Australia's WorleyParsons. The contract is worth almost LE900 million and extends over a ten-year period. In late 2007, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced that Egypt would undertake the development of several nuclear power stations for electricity generation in order to offset the country's rapidly depleting natural gas and petroleum resources. The government hopes to eventually supply 10 percent of the country's domestic power needs through nuclear energy.
