Egypt and Russia signed an agreement on Thursday under which Russia will build a nuclear power plant in Egypt, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said in comments on state television.
Sisi did not give any value or timeframe for the project but said it would involve the building of a third-generation power plant with four reactors, Reuter reported.
It is not clear where it will be built or how it will be paid for, but Sisi talked of a loan that would be repaid over 35 years.
"The country's balance sheet will not bear the cost of this loan; it will be covered by the production of electricity from the plant," he said. "The goal of the signing is a message of hope, work and peace for us in Egypt and for the world."
Russia's TASS agency said the first Egyptian nuclear plant will probably have four power-generating units, each of them with an output capacity of 1,200 megawatts.
TASS said the intergovernmental agreement also includes issues related to providing the future plant with nuclear fuel, obligations for exploitation, maintenance works and repair of the plant’s units.
The document also stipulates issues related to spent fuel, personnel training, backing Egypt in improving system of norms and regulations in the field of nuclear power and nuclear infrastructure.
The agreement comes amid a tense period of diplomatic relations between Moscow and Cairo after a St Petersburg-bound Airbus A321 was downed in Egypt shortly after takeoff from Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 224 people on board.
