CAIRO — The Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority (ENRRA) agreed on June 29 to grant a permit for the construction of the first power unit at the Dabaa nuclear power plant, northwest of Cairo, under an Egyptian-Russian agreement to build the country’s first power plant. 

ENRRA said in a statement that the examination, evaluation and inspection that the authority conducted verified the safety of Unit 1 at the Dabaa nuclear power plant and confirmed that there are no risks to humans, the environment or property in the vicinity of the plant.

The issuance of the permit to start the construction of Dabaa plant’s first unit came nearly seven years after the Egyptian government signed an agreement with Russia in November 2015 to construct the first nuclear power plant in Egypt at Dabaa, which aims to generate a total of 4,800 megawatts through four reactors at a cost of up to $21 billion.

In its June 29 statement, ENRRA said that it has taken “the necessary measures to verify that a maximum safety at Dabaa is in accordance with the highest international standards,” adding that these measures included inspection visits to the site to ensure its suitability for construction work.