Alexandria University is one of the oldest and most reputable higher education institutions in Egypt. Its Faculty of Engineering became a venue for the Nuclear Power Week, a major nuclear event in Egypt. This time Rosatom organized a seminar on Russia’s latest nuclear technologies and presented the Nuclear Power Week participants with key facts about Rosatom and its unparalleled advantages on the global nuclear market.
Alexei Tevanyan, Head of the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Egypt, delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony on Russia’s behalf. He stressed a long-standing strategic partnership between Russia and Egypt and cooperation in the nuclear power field. “Many Egyptian nuclear experts were trained by Soviet scholars and researchers in their days. Today Russia and Egypt are entering a new round of technological cooperation, this time centered on the construction of a nuclear power plant in El Dabaa,” he said.
According to Tevanyan, Egypt’s first nuclear station will be a new milestone in the development of the national energy industry and stimulate other industries, as well as facilitate social, economic and technological improvements and create new jobs. Alexei Tevanyan added, “To achieve this ambitious goal, Egypt needs qualified personnel. It is but symbolic that Rosatom’s first seminar on Russian nuclear technologies is held in the oldest national university. You will be pillars of Egypt’s nuclear industry and engineering.”
Academic staff and students of the University, the national nuclear regulator, industry associations and leading companies present at the seminar were demonstrated slides on Rosatom’s latest technologies and multi-year experience in the nuclear design and construction. Other presentations covered safety systems for nuclear stations, Rosatom’s approach to environmental management and competencies required to build and operate nuclear facilities. Much interest was aroused by the presentation of Rusatom Overseas Inc. on nuclear-related education in Russia, including opportunities for Egyptian students to study at Russia’s leading nuclear universities.
Along with participation in the Nuclear Power Week, Rosatom Corporate Academy organized the Physics Olympiad for high school and university students. “Supported by Rossotrudnichestvo (a Russian agency for CIS affairs and international humanitarian cooperation) in Egypt, the Olympiad aims to identify the best students who will continue their education in Russia later this year and major in nuclear-related fields. When they return to Egypt, they will get involved in the construction and operation of the first Egyptian nuclear station in El Dabaa and become a part of the nuclear industry professional elite,” said Alexei Tevanyan.
According to him, over a hundred of scholarships were granted to Egyptian students to study in Russia, including ‘fifty scholarships for nuclear-related academic majors’.
Russia and Egypt plan to develop cooperation across a broad range of nuclear technologies. In fact, Rosatom will help Egypt establish the entire nuclear industry in the country. On 19 November 2015, the two countries signed in Cairo an agreement on the construction of the first Egyptian nuclear station near El Dabaa on the Mediterranean coast. The Russian-designed nuclear power plant will have four 1,200 MW reactor units.
