Egypt launches nuclear power programme
Wednesday, 31 October 2007
CAIRO, Oct 30 (AFP): Egypt announced yesterday a programme to build several nuclear power stations, pushing it towards the front of a queue of Middle Eastern nations eager for access to the controversial technology.
President Hosni Mubarak said during the opening of a "traditional" power station in Cairo that a decree would be issued in a few days' time to establish a higher council for the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
He said the programme will be developed in cooperation with the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) "within a framework of transparency and respect of commitments to the nuclear non-proliferation system."
Egypt initiated a nuclear energy programme in the 1970s but abandoned it in 1986 after the Chernobyl disaster. Mubarak's regime recently outlined plans to revive it.
"Egypt will go through with the nuclear energy project in the belief that energy security is a basic element in building the future of the homeland and part and parcel of Egypt's national security system," Mubarak said.
The 79-year-old president did not say which countries would cooperate in the construction of the power stations, nor how many were planned, but last year he discussed nuclear cooperation during visits to Russia and China.
President Hosni Mubarak said during the opening of a "traditional" power station in Cairo that a decree would be issued in a few days' time to establish a higher council for the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
He said the programme will be developed in cooperation with the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) "within a framework of transparency and respect of commitments to the nuclear non-proliferation system."
Egypt initiated a nuclear energy programme in the 1970s but abandoned it in 1986 after the Chernobyl disaster. Mubarak's regime recently outlined plans to revive it.
"Egypt will go through with the nuclear energy project in the belief that energy security is a basic element in building the future of the homeland and part and parcel of Egypt's national security system," Mubarak said.
The 79-year-old president did not say which countries would cooperate in the construction of the power stations, nor how many were planned, but last year he discussed nuclear cooperation during visits to Russia and China.