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Egypt faces $200bn losses due to nuclear project delay

June 22, 2015 at 11:05 am

A senior Egyptian official has said that the losses to the country due to the delay in implementing its nuclear power project amount to $200 billion, Anadolu reported on Sunday. Deputy Electricity Minister Ibrahim Al-Assiri made his comments to Egypt’s economics newspaper Al-Alam Al-Yawm.

“The nuclear power project started with the announcement of the Nuclear Power Committee in 1954,” Al-Assiri said. “This means that it started before South Korea and Japan and this reflects the plans to undermine it.”

Al-Assiri is a former inspector of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He said that Russia is the best choice for Egypt to cooperate in this field.

“Previous cooperation proved our seriousness about the project and that we will not respond to any third-party pressures,” he said. “The Russian nuclear plants are completely made by Russia. This keeps Egypt away from interference or pressure by any other countries regarding spare parts and other staff.”

At the beginning of this month, the Director of the Russian Federal Agency for Atomic Power, Sergei Grinko, said that his country is ready to offer all the expertise needed in this field for Egypt. It will help the Cairo government to build nuclear energy plants, and train experts in Moscow. A memorandum for electricity generation was signed during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Egypt in February this year.

According to Al-Assiri, financing the nuclear power plant is not an obstacle as the company expected to build it has agreed to be paid from on-stream revenues. The estimated cost ranges between $4 billion and $5 billion.