Egyptian nuclear engineering students graduate from Russian Tomsk Polytechnic University

CAIRO – 31 January 2021: A new batch of international nuclear engineering students, including Egyptians, has graduated from the Russian Tomsk Polytechnic University, announced Rosatom State Atomiс Energy Corporation (ROSATOM).

The new batch includes students from Egypt, Vietnam, and Kazakhstan, besides Russian students, the company added in a statement, noting that this year a total of 48 nuclear international students graduated after studying for more than five years. The students include 13 Egyptians, 10 Vietnamese, and 2 from Kazakhstan, besides 23 Russians.

In April 2020, Rosatom, the Russian state nuclear energy corporation, has signed a ten-year contract with the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority, to supply low-enriched nuclear fuel components, including uranium and aluminum, to the ETRR-2 nuclear reactor located northeast of the capital Cairo, TVEL Fuel Company of Rosatom said in a statement.

The ETRR-2 experimental training research reactor in Sharqiya governorate was supplied by the Argentine company INVAP for construction and delivery of plants and equipment in 1992.

In 2014, Egypt and Russia announced their cooperation in the nuclear power field. On November 19, 2015, an agreement was finally signed between Cairo and Moscow that allows Russia to build a nuclear power plant in the Mediterranean city of Dabaa, with Russia extending a $25 billion loan to Egypt to cover the cost of construction. The loan will cover 85 percent of the plant, with Egypt funding the remaining 15 percent.

According to the deal, Rosatom finances and constructs four third-generation reactors, with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts (MW) each, for a total of 4,800 MW. The plant will be built on approximately 12,000 feddans and is expected to create over 50,000 job opportunities.

Nuclear energy is part of the government’s plan to diversify its energy sources to prevent any future crisis resulting from shortages in electricity.