The Ministry of Electricity and Energy is currently restructuring Egypt's nuclear energy authorities to help meet the demands of the country's nuclear program, Minister of Electricity and Energy Hassan Younis said during a meeting with students from intermediate technical institutes. Younis said electricity generation capacity has reached 26,750 megawatts during fiscal year 2009/10. This, he said, means that generation capacity climbed by more than 12,000 megawatts over the past ten years. Younis also said that there are 25 million subscribers to the electrical grid. Besides restructuring Egypt's three nuclear energy authorities, Younis said that work is currently underway to establish an independent monitoring authority to ensure nuclear safety. Younis said that the necessary human resources for Egypt's nuclear project are being trained in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the European Union and consultancy offices. An international consultant has been appointed to implement the nuclear plant, he added. Younis further pointed out that the law on organizing nuclear and radioactive activity has been passed as part of the effort to produce electricity from nuclear energy to boost Egypt's electricity output. Younis also unveiled a plan to rationalize energy consumption, saying that the cabinet has allocated LE260 million to support plans to reduce energy consumption from lighting. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
