At Egypt's El-Dabaa nuclear power plant, Russian state corporation Rosatom has started assembling the third tier of the internal containment shell for the reactor building of the second unit. According to Rosatom's press release, construction is progressing ahead of schedule.
The third tier of the containment shell is made up of 12 blocks produced in Egypt. Each block stands 9 meters tall and can weigh up to 100 tons. Installation of the structure is expected to take around two weeks. Once complete, the team will join all blocks together to form a unified internal containment shell.
"The advancement of this structure is a direct result of the dedication of welders, assemblers, inspectors, engineers, designers, and other experts involved, as well as the productive cooperation with our Egyptian partners," said Alexey Kononenko, project director for the El-Dabaa NPP.
The internal containment shell is located inside the power unit and houses the nuclear reactor along with primary circuit equipment that controls pressure and temperature inside the reactor.
In April, RASU, a Rosatom subsidiary, began establishing a local computing network for the plant. In late May, Egypt's Foreign Ministry described the nuclear project as "evidence of the developing relationship" between Egypt and Russia.
El-Dabaa is Egypt's first nuclear power station. It is being built on the Mediterranean coast in the city of El-Dabaa and will consist of four units, each with a capacity of 1.2 gigawatts.
The station is being built under contracts signed in 2017, which stipulate that Russia will both construct the NPP and supply nuclear fuel throughout its operational lifetime. Russia will also train local specialists during the first ten years and provide fuel storage facilities, including containers for spent nuclear fuel. According to Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev, the first unit is scheduled to be commissioned in 2028.
Angelina Shemyakina
