Egyptian Nuclear Fuel Element Fabrication Plant

[The SC]

The Fuel Manufacturing Pilot Plant (FMPP), also known as Fuel Element Fabrication Plant, is a nuclear fuel fabrication facility supplied by the Argentine company INVAP in 1998.

The FMPP is considered a Material Testing Reactor (MTR)-type fuel element facility, that produces the fuel elements required for the research reactor ETRR-2.

The plant uses enriched uranium hexaflouride (UF6, 19.75% U235) as a raw material which is processed to produce the final MTR-type fuel elements.

The FMPP is owned and operated by the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority (AEA) at the Nuclear Research Center in Inshas, 60 kilometers northeast of Cairo.

The Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority (AEA) contracted with the Argentine company INVAP to construct the Fuel Manufacturing Pilot Plant (FMPP) at the Nuclear Research Center in Inshas with the construction works began in 1995, with pre-operational tests in 1997, and a final complete production on December, 1998.

The National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) was responsible for the technology transfer and Egyptian staff training during the commissioning and installation of FMPP by personnel from the (Uranium Powder Manufacturing Plant) and the (Research Reactors Fuel Elements Plant) were both plants in CNEA served as a FMPP design basis. During the setup of the facility a fuel element was manufactured using natural uranium firstly and then another one using 20% enriched uranium.

The Fuel Manufacturing Pilot Plant (FMPP) is considered the most sophisticated fuel cycle facility in Egypt, which is a semi-pilot facility produces the fuel elements required by the Egyptian second research reactor ETRR-2.

FMPP has a production design capacity of 40 fuel element per year, with a total uranium content of 2054 g each and 220 days of estimated annual working time in two shifts with 8 hours each, which is sufficient to ensure continuous ETRR-2 reactor operation.

FMPP is under IAEA safeguards.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_Manufacturing_Pilot_Plant


Here is a very detailed read about it:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9NZMl7CzjUUJ:www.iaea.org/inis/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/31/051/31051254.pdf?r=1+&cd=13&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca&client=firefox-b

 

[The SC]

High-enriched uranium traces found in Egypt: IAEA

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ces-found-in-egypt-iaea-idUSTRE54543S20090506


Egypt’s Nuclear Plant Project Continues Despite Virus Restrictions

Tuesday, 5 May, 2020 - 12:00

Grigory Sosnin, the director of the Dabaa nuclear project (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Cairo- Mohammed Abdo Hasanein

The Egyptian nuclear project is underway, despite the restrictions imposed by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus and the Egyptian authorities’ decision to postpone the opening of major projects, including the new capital.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Grigory Sosnin, the director of the Dabaa nuclear project, said that the company “has taken a set of strict preventive measures, restricting the access of people who recently came to Egypt to the construction site and relying on video conferences to hold regular meetings with the Nuclear Power Stations Authority in Egypt.”

Russia’s state-owned Rosatom, which specializes in nuclear energy, is working on launching the first nuclear power plant in Egypt, in the city of Dabaa on the shores of the Mediterranean (130 km northwest of Cairo). The plant consists of four nuclear reactors, each with a capacity of 1200 megawatts, with a total capacity of 4,800 megawatts.

Sosnin, who is also the vice president of Atomstroyexport, Rosatom’s subsidiary, said that preparatory work was taking place on-site, as well as in the design of the project.

He noted that if things went according to plan, “the first nuclear reactor will be operational within seven years, after meeting the necessary permits... while the remaining three reactors will be activated consecutively one by one.”

The Russian director did not express concern about the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the planned program, stressing that Rosatom was closely monitoring the developments of the situation related to the virus around the world, especially in the countries in which it operates.

He added that the company “considers the health and safety of its employees a priority.”

In 2015, Egypt and Russia concluded an agreement to cooperate in building the Dabaa nuclear power plant, with a $ 25 billion loan provided by the Russian state.

Construction is underway at the site, in parallel with work to complete the necessary documents to obtain the so-called “nuclear license”, which is granted by the Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Supervision Authority (ENRRA).


https://english.aawsat.com//home/article/2268716/egypt’s-nuclear-plant-project-continues-despite-virus-restrictions

Dabaa nuclear plant will be world’s safest: Ros Atom vice president

December 17, 2017

The vice president of Russia’s Atomic Energy Corporation, Ros Atom, said the Dabaa nuclear plant would be the world’s safest and would be fully fortified against any earthquake.

Sosinen Gregory Ivanovich noted in an interview with state-run newspaper of Akhbar al-Youm on Sunday that 15,000 employees are expected to work inside the Dabaa nuclear plant, 15 percent of whom would be Russian experts while the remaining 85 percent would be Egyptian.

Ivanovich added that the project will include the transfer of nuclear technology to Egypt.

Ivanovich also explained that 100 percent of the Egyptians who will operate the project will be trained in Russia but that some of the training would occur in Egypt.

He asserted that the project would produce 4,800 megawatts and that the four reactors will start simultaneously.
Moreover, he said that the plans for work and production have been processed and that the full designs will be sent to Egypt within a few days, highlighting that the first stage will start between 2022 and 2023

“The project will be operated and utilized over 90 years and the construction work will last for 54 months,” he noted.

During a recent trip to Egypt, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a contract with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi to commence the construction of the Dabaa nuclear plant.

The contract was also signed by Egypt’s Minister of Electricity, Mahmoud Shaker, and Alexey Likhachev, Chief Executive of Rosatom, the Russian state-owned nuclear energy corporation.

Rosatom also said the plant, Egypt’s first, would be built at Dabaa in the north of the country and is expected to be completed by 2022.

Russia will loan Egypt $25 billion to finance building and operating of the plant. Egypt will pay an interest rate of 3 percent annually. Instalment payments will begin on October 15, 2029.


https://egyptindependent.com/dabaa-nuclear-plant-will-worlds-safest-ros-atom-vice-president/

Russia and Egypt agree on nuclear fuel deal

9 April 2020

The Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority and Russia’s Rosatom TVEL subsidiary, Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant (NCCP), have agreed on a ten-year contract for the supply of low-enriched nuclear fuel components for Egypt’s ETTR-2 research reactor.
The fuel components include uranium and aluminium items, Rosatom TVEL said in a statement.
ETTR-2 focuses on ‘research in particle physics and material studies, as well as for production of radioisotopes’.
It is located at a nuclear research facility in Inshas in Egypt’s Sharqiya governorate.
TVEL senior vice-president for commerce and international business Oleg Grigoriyev said: “The long-term contract is a logical follow-up to a number of contractual documents for shipments of fuel components to Egypt, successfully fulfilled by NCCP in the past three years.”

According to Rosatom TVEL, the business development prospects in Egypt also embrace supply of nuclear fuel to all four power units of the planned 4,800MW El-Debaa nuclear power plant for its entire operation period.
El-Debaa is the country’s first nuclear power plant and will be located in Egypt’s Matrouh province on the Mediterranean coast.
The company said the fuel contract for the El-Debaa nuclear power plant came into force in 2017.
It is understood the Central Design & Technological Institute, another TVEL subsidiary, is involved as a design subcontractor for the storage facility for spent nuclear fuel from El-Debaa.
In January, Egypt’s Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA) awarded Australia’s Worley, formerly WorleyParsons, a consultancy services contract for the plant.
Under the contract, which is valid until 2030, Worley will provide the following services:

• Engineering and design review
• Project management
• Procurement
• Construction management
• Training
• Procedure development
• Quality assurance
• Commissioning and other related activities

Russian state nuclear company Rosatom will develop Egypt’s first nuclear power plant. In November, Russia’s Atomkomplekt received bids for the base camp and facilities contract required for initial earthworks and ground blasting.

Three Russian and eight Egyptian firms submitted a bid for the contract, which has a bid price capped at $23m.
The client also tendered and received bids for earth levelling works in October. The bidders include eight Egyptian and two Russian firms.
Next tenders

Succeeding tenders include contracts for the turnkey construction of part of the construction and logistics base that has critical path facilities, as well as for the construction and logistics base with no critical path facilities. The first package has a budget of $88m, while the second has a budget of $109m.

A third tender is expected for the first stage of the construction of the temporary workers’ accommodation, which has a $42m budget.

The first major tender for the construction of a nuclear island, turbine island and auxiliary buildings is expected at a later stage.

In July 2018, Egypt awarded US-based GE a contract to supply equipment and services for the project. The contract will involve the supply of four nuclear turbine generators with a capacity of 1,200MW each.
Russia’s role

Egypt signed the final agreements and notice to proceed (NTP) with Rosatom for the nuclear power plant project in December 2017 during meetings between Egypt’s President Abdul Fattah el-Sisi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Cairo.

Egypt and Russia signed the initial intergovernmental agreement for the North African state’s first nuclear facility in November 2015.

In May 2016, Egypt signed an agreement with Russia for a $25bn loan to cover 85% of the project cost.
Egypt expects to repay the loan in 43 instalments over 22 years with a 3% interest rate. Instalment payments will start in October 2029.

Once the construction work starts, the plant is expected to take nine years to build and commission.
The contract covers the development of a plant equipped with four reactors with a capacity of 1,200MW each.


https://www.power-technology.com/comment/russia-egypt-nuclear-fuel-deal/

 

[Fawadqasim1]

An above board power project nothing else.

 

[The SC]

An above board power project nothing else.

The Egyptian nuclear power program was started in 1954 as the first research reactor ETRR-1 was acquired from the Soviet Union in 1958 and was opened by Gamal Abdel Nasser at Inchass, Nile Delta. The disposal of its spent fuel was controlled by the Soviets.

In 1964, a 150 MWe nuclear power station was proposed, followed by a 600 MWe proposal in 1974. Also, the Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA) was established in 1976, and in 1983 the El Dabaa site on the Mediterranean coast was selected. The nuclear program was then rejected just after Egypt's defeat by Israel in the Six-day War in 1967 and the weakening of the Egyptian economy.

In 1968 Egypt signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty but postponed ratifying it citing evidence that Israel had undertaken a nuclear weapons program. Consequently, Egypt lost many of its nuclear experts and scientists who had to travel abroad to seek work opportunities. Some of them joined the Iraqi nuclear program and others emigrated to Canada and Egypt's nuclear plans were frozen after the Chernobyl accident.

In 1992 Egypt acquired a 22MW multi-purpose research reactor ETRR-2 from Argentina.

In 2006, Egypt announced it would revive its civilian nuclear power programme, and within 10 years build a 1,000 megawatt nuclear power station at El Dabaa. It was estimated to cost US$1.5bn, and it would be constructed with the participation of foreign investors. In March 2008, Egypt signed with Russia an agreement on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

As of 2012, after years of stop-start efforts, Egypt’s nuclear energy ambitions were once again in flux. El Dabaa had been targeted by protesters who were claiming that their land was wrongly taken by the government to make way for the nuclear plant. As of 2012, as a result of those protests, the site was shut down. The Morsi government did not make any statements about its plans for the plant since construction was suspended.

Egypt withdrew from talks regarding the implementation and effectiveness of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in Geneva on 29 April 2013, but remains a ratifier of the NPT.

In November 2015 and March 2017 Egypt signed preliminary agreements with Russian nuclear company Rosatom for a first VVER-1200 unit at El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant to start in 2024.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_program_of_Egypt


So it is apparent that you have no idea of what you are talking about..

 

[Fawadqasim1]

The Egyptian nuclear power program was started in 1954 as the first research reactor ETRR-1 was acquired from the Soviet Union in 1958 and was opened by Gamal Abdel Nasser at Inchass, Nile Delta. The disposal of its spent fuel was controlled by the Soviets.

In 1964, a 150 MWe nuclear power station was proposed, followed by a 600 MWe proposal in 1974. Also, the Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA) was established in 1976, and in 1983 the El Dabaa site on the Mediterranean coast was selected. The nuclear program was then rejected just after Egypt's defeat by Israel in the Six-day War in 1967 and the weakening of the Egyptian economy.

In 1968 Egypt signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty but postponed ratifying it citing evidence that Israel had undertaken a nuclear weapons program. Consequently, Egypt lost many of its nuclear experts and scientists who had to travel abroad to seek work opportunities. Some of them joined the Iraqi nuclear program and others emigrated to Canada and Egypt's nuclear plans were frozen after the Chernobyl accident.

In 1992 Egypt acquired a 22MW multi-purpose research reactor ETRR-2 from Argentina.

In 2006, Egypt announced it would revive its civilian nuclear power programme, and within 10 years build a 1,000 megawatt nuclear power station at El Dabaa. It was estimated to cost US$1.5bn, and it would be constructed with the participation of foreign investors. In March 2008, Egypt signed with Russia an agreement on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

As of 2012, after years of stop-start efforts, Egypt’s nuclear energy ambitions were once again in flux. El Dabaa had been targeted by protesters who were claiming that their land was wrongly taken by the government to make way for the nuclear plant. As of 2012, as a result of those protests, the site was shut down. The Morsi government did not make any statements about its plans for the plant since construction was suspended.

Egypt withdrew from talks regarding the implementation and effectiveness of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in Geneva on 29 April 2013, but remains a ratifier of the NPT.

In November 2015 and March 2017 Egypt signed preliminary agreements with Russian nuclear company Rosatom for a first VVER-1200 unit at El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant to start in 2024.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_program_of_Egypt


So it is apparent that you have no idea of what you are talking about..

I absolutely disagree with you this history
Absolutely support my observation.
1) no attempt to construct a natural uranium military plutonium production reactor(thermal output not electric) whether graphite moderated or heavy water moderated candu type reactor for which
you need a heavy water production plant separately
2) no apparent attempt to develop or procure plutonium reprocessing plant or
Technology e.g purex solvent extraction process which we and the rest of the world use for plutonium extraction.
3) no apparent attempt to enrich uranium either by centrifugation/centrifuge method (not even a cascade of zip type first generation aluminum based centrifuges) or other methods like calutron or gaseous diffusion i doubt if they can convert natural uranium to uranium gas i.e uf6 uranium hexafluoride i even doubt if they know which electrodes to use.
4) no apparent attempt to develop trigger mechanism either gun type or implosion type. plutonium pu 239 wont work with gun type it requires implosion trigger due to pre detonation fizzle problem a) no apparent initiator development like polonium or tritium b) no explosive lens development c) no krytron switch development either tube based or solid state etc
5) no diagnostics program e.g conducting
Cold tests etc
I can go on and can write a book on this
Subject but I am posting via a mobile phone
So if they start today with whatever they have they won't be able to test a single basic fission device in the next 10 years at least. so
They are buying pressurised light water reactors from Russia duly under I.A.E.A safeguards these type of reactors require enriched uranium so they will have to buy readymade prefabricated fuel/fuel rods from Russia
Burn it to produce electricity. which means no short burns for pu 239 production this spent fuel will be marred with fizzely pu 240 which is highly unsuitable for nuclear weapons because it pre detonates even in
Implosion type trigger that's why it's called reactor grade plutonium not weapons grade plutonium. if that could be done India would have more than 1000 weapons by now they even tried to use it in one of their low yield
tests which was nothing but an aggrandised dirty bomb
sir I do know what I am talking about and
will be happy to elaborate( any point or subject) if requested salutes.

 

[The SC]

I absolutely disagree with you this history
Absolutely support my observation.
1) no attempt to construct a natural uranium military plutonium production reactor(thermal output not electric) whether graphite moderated or heavy water moderated candu type reactor for which
you need a heavy water production plant separately
2) no apparent attempt to develop or procure plutonium reprocessing plant or
Technology e.g purex solvent extraction process which we and the rest of the world use for plutonium extraction.
3) no apparent attempt to enrich uranium either by centrifugation/centrifuge method (not even a cascade of zip type first generation aluminum based centrifuges) or other methods like calutron or gaseous diffusion i doubt if they can convert natural uranium to uranium gas i.e uf6 uranium hexafluoride i even doubt if they know which electrodes to use.
4) no apparent attempt to develop trigger mechanism either gun type or implosion type. plutonium pu 239 wont work with gun type it requires implosion trigger due to pre detonation fizzle problem a) no apparent initiator development like polonium or tritium b) no explosive lens development c) no krytron switch development either tube based or solid state etc
5) no diagnostics program e.g conducting
Cold tests etc
I can go on and can write a book on this
Subject but I am posting via a mobile phone
So if they start today with whatever they have they won't be able to test a single basic fission device in the next 10 years at least. so
They are buying pressurised light water reactors from Russia duly under I.A.E.A safeguards these type of reactors require enriched uranium so they will have to buy readymade prefabricated fuel/fuel rods from Russia
Burn it to produce electricity. which means no short burns for pu 239 production this spent fuel will be marred with fizzely pu 240 which is highly unsuitable for nuclear weapons because it pre detonates even in
Implosion type trigger that's why it's called reactor grade plutonium not weapons grade plutonium. if that could be done India would have more than 1000 weapons by now they even tried to use it in one of their low yeald
tests which was nothing but an aggrandised dirty bomb
sir I do know what I am talking about and
will be happy to elaborate( any point or subject) if requested salutes.

It is all about Uranium in the article..
"The plant uses enriched uranium hexaflouride (UF6, 19.75% U235) as a raw material which is processed to produce the final MTR-type fuel elements."

Have a good read here:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9NZMl7CzjUUJ:www.iaea.org/inis/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/31/051/31051254.pdf?r=1+&cd=13&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca&client=firefox-b

Where have you seen any talk about Plutonium..

 

[Fawadqasim1]

It is all about Uranium in the article..
"The plant uses enriched uranium hexaflouride (UF6, 19.75% U235) as a raw material which is processed to produce the final MTR-type fuel elements."

Have a good read here:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9NZMl7CzjUUJ:www.iaea.org/inis/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/31/051/31051254.pdf?r=1+&cd=13&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca&client=firefox-b

Where have you seen any talk about Plutonium..

are they indigenously enriching uranium and by using which method.?
And where is their enrichment plant located it must be a huge plant to feed a 600 mw electric nuclear power plant and it begs another question where are israel and USA
are they dead. In reality they are going to buy prefabricated fuel rods from Russia and burn it in a Russian turnkey build reactor
And then put those rods in a pool of water
Under the surveillance of I.A.E.A like good little boys and even if they get their hands on it which is impossible but let's say hypothetically even if they do the fuel is useless for making the bomb because it's
reactor grade material so no zilch means zilch there are clear telltale signs of a nuclear weapons programme (whether taking uranium route or plutonium) which i am sorry to say aren't there in egypt.
And the above mentioned artical is about
Fuel type of the proposed reactors and some pilot fuel rods fabrication for research reactors and maybe some future reactor as far as the indigenous uranium enrichment capability of Egypt is concerned it is zero making a few fuel rods from natural uranium or imported enriched uranium means very little for a bomb program. Regards

 

[The SC]

are they indigenously enriching uranium and by using which method.?
And where is their enrichment plant located it must be a huge plant to feed a 600 mw electric nuclear power plant and it begs another question where are israel and USA
are they dead. In reality they are going to buy prefabricated fuel rods from Russia and burn it in a Russian turnkey build reactor
And then put those rods in a pool of water
Under the surveillance of I.A.E.A like good little boys and even if they get their hands on it which is impossible but let's say hypothetically even if they do the fuel is useless for making the bomb because it's
reactor grade material so no zilch means zilch there are clear telltale signs of a nuclear weapons programme (whether taking uranium route or plutonium) which i am sorry to say aren't there in egypt.
And the above mentioned artical is about
Fuel type of the proposed reactors and some pilot fuel rods fabrication for research reactors and maybe some future reactor as far as the indigenous uranium enrichment capability of Egypt is concerned it is zero making a few fuel rods from natural uranium or imported enriched uranium means very little for a bomb program. Regards

It is a 22 mw research reactor we were talking about..

And this is the tech that was used to manufacture the fuel

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9NZMl7CzjUUJ:www.iaea.org/inis/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/31/051/31051254.pdf?r=1+&cd=13&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca&client=firefox-b

 

[Fawadqasim1]

It is a 22 mw research reactor we were talking about..

And this is the tech that was used to manufacture the fuel

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9NZMl7CzjUUJ:www.iaea.org/inis/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/31/051/31051254.pdf?r=1+&cd=13&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca&client=firefox-b

Ya fabricating fuel rods for a small research reactor from natural uranium is let's say nothing big we were doing that about 50 years ago btw eid Mubarak.

 

[Bilal.]

Ya fabricating fuel rods for a small research reactor from natural uranium is let's say nothing big we were doing that about 50 years ago btw eid Mubarak.

Brother, we should not act like a certain neighbor of ours. The topic is about Egyptian fuel fabrication. Not about our capability or a comparison to it.

 

[Fawadqasim1]

Brother, we should not act like a certain neighbor of ours. The topic is about Egyptian fuel fabrication. Not about our capability or a comparison to it.

No it's not that it's about why are they doing so little so late they should have developed
The front-end of the nuclear fuel cycle by now. Btw Eid Mubarak

 

[Bilal.]

No it's not that it's about why are they doing so little so late they should have developed
The front-end of the nuclear fuel cycle by now. Btw Eid Mubarak

Eid Mubarak to you to bro. Understood, but let’s have a bit positive tone instead of giving vibes of condescending, though that might not be the intention.

These are visitors from other country on our forum. A simple barometer can be to imagine how we would feel if one of us opens a topic and receive a a response which I am about to give or can I reword it to a more polite tone while still passing the intended message.

This forum is reflective of us as a country and people to many who have not met us in person. Let’s utilize it to project goodwill.

 

[The SC]

No it's not that it's about why are they doing so little so late they should have developed
The front-end of the nuclear fuel cycle by now. Btw Eid Mubarak

Eid mubarak..
Egypt started in the 50s too.. but there were 3 big wars ; 1956, 1967 and 1973 (Actually this one did not stop from the Usraeli surprise attack in 1967 to the Egyptian surprise counter attack of 1973)..you know how war affects projects and the economy as a whole..The good thing is the Egyptian resilience..and now a big nuclear civilian project is being realised after 50 years of trying against all odds..