CAIRO - President Hosni Mubarak Wednesday decided that Egypt's first planned nuclear power plant would be in the Mediterranean coastal area of el-Dabaa, ending a controversy over the validity of the site, a presidential spokesman said. "Mubarak decided at a meeting that the reactor would be located in el-Dabaa, on the coast west of the port city of Alexandria," said Presidential spokesman Suleiman Awwad. Mubarak's decision puts an end to attempts by business tycoons to build sea resorts on the el-Dabaa site. The area is known for its attractive beaches. The meeting, which was mainly for the Egyptian Council for Peaceful Purposes of Nuclear Energy, was "extremely important and represents a transition on the path towards implementing a strategic programme to ensure the power supply and the peaceful use of nuclear energy," added Awwad. He added that Mubarak had given the green light for constructing the nation's first nuclear plant. In October 2007, Mubarak announced plans to build several nuclear power plants to diversify Egypt's energy resources and to preserve the country's oil and gas reserves for coming generations. He pledged to work closely with the UN nuclear watchdog agency and said that Egypt was not seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Egypt will start an international bidding process this year for its first nuclear energy plant, according to Electricity and Energy Minister Hassan Younis. "Egypt's nuclear project is progressing steadily and we expect to start the tender before the end of this year," Younis said. The ministry has invited several firms for consultancy and project briefings, such as the French nuclear reactor maker Areva, the engineering group Alstom, and the Westinghouse Electric Co., according to him. The Government was also looking to Korean and Japanese firms. Last year, Egypt signed a deal with Australia's Worley Parsons for a nuclear power consultancy. The firm updated studies on the el-Dabaa site on the Mediterranean coast, where Egypt planned to build a power station in the 1980s. Younis said the studies had concluded that el-Dabaa was the most suitable location. "The project is moving ahead on time. Internationally, it takes 8 to 10 years for such projects to bear fruit in developing countries, and 12 to 15 years in countries where nuclear projects are being set up for the first time," he said.
