PRINCESS MTHOMBENI | El Dabaa: A monument to Africa’s nuclear future

It was a crisp winter morning in Alexandria and as I woke up in my hotel room at Sunrise Alex Avenue my mind was far from the breathtaking Mediterranean view or the hotel’s renowned breakfast.

My heart was racing with excitement. I was going to visit the construction site of El Dabaa nuclear power plant — the first nuclear power plant in Egypt and only the second on the African continent after Koeberg in South Africa. For me, this was more than just a visit to a construction site; it was a moment of history unfolding before my eyes.

As I boarded the bus for the three-hour journey to El Dabaa, I reflected on Egypt’s long and determined journey to nuclear power. Egypt, like South Africa, was among the countries that played a role in establishing the International Atomic Energy Agency in 1957. The Egyptian Nuclear Power Plants Authority was established in 1976 to oversee nuclear power projects. In 2006 Egypt revived its nuclear ambitions and by 2007 a strategic decision was taken to include nuclear power in the country’s energy mix.

The site approval permit was granted in 2019 and construction permits for the four units were issued between 2022 and 2023. The contracts for the project, signed in 2017, entrusted Russia’s Rosatom with not only constructing the plant but also supplying nuclear fuel for its life cycle, training personnel and providing maintenance for the first 10 years of operation.

Arriving at the construction site, a brief moment of panic set in when I realised I had left my passport in my larger suitcase, which was in another vehicle. Our group leader’s alarm was evident, but the issue was swiftly resolved. Security measures were strict — no cellphones allowed, a standard protocol for nuclear sites. While I understood the importance of security, parting with my phone felt like a soldier being asked to go into battle without a weapon. Nevertheless, I was ready to absorb every detail with my pen and notebook in hand.

The sheer scale of the project was breathtaking. More than 22,000 workers labour on-site in two shifts, a number expected to peak at more than 35,000. The metal structures for the nuclear island were taking shape, with inner and outer containment structures being built on-site. The power plant will consist of four VVER-1,200 reactors, a technology already proven in Russia and Belarus. Each reactor unit will have a capacity of 1,200MW, contributing a total of 4,800MW to Egypt’s grid.

The distance between the units is about 390m, ensuring safety and efficiency. Each of the first two units has three pumping stations. The first tier of the inner containment building for unit 1 is complete, with each tier consisting of 12 segments, each weighing between 60 tonnes and 80 tonnes. The inner containment for unit 2 is now highly visible, marking significant progress. The turbine island for unit 2 is being constructed by Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power.

Construction is progressing at an impressive pace with work on each unit starting at intervals of about six months — the first concrete was poured for unit 1 in July 2022, for unit 2 in November 2022, for unit 3 in May 2023 and for unit 4 in January 2024.

The magnitude of what Egypt is accomplishing became clearer as the project director guided us through the site. Egypt is well on its way to becoming a regional leader in sustainable energy and the benefits of this project extend beyond electricity generation. The country will save millions of cubic metres of natural gas, diversify its energy mix and significantly cut carbon emissions. El Dabaa is accredited as a green energy project, expected to reduce about 15-million tonnes of CO₂ annually.

On my flight back home, I was filled with pride — but I couldn’t shake off a bittersweet feeling. As a South African, I couldn’t help but wonder: where would my country be if we had the same level of decisiveness? We once had the ground-breaking pebble bed modular reactor project, which could have placed us at the forefront of small modular reactor technology.

We once had a clear policy direction envisioning 9,600MW of new nuclear build, positioning us as Africa’s nuclear leader. Instead, political indecisiveness, fearmongering NGOs and a lack of public will have kept South Africa stagnant. Egypt has shown us what is possible when leadership aligns with vision. Their president made nuclear energy a priority and today El Dabaa is becoming a reality. It is a powerful reminder to the rest of Africa that nuclear power is not just an option but a necessity for economic growth, energy security and environmental sustainability.

Africans deserve nuclear energy. We deserve the opportunity to industrialise, to create jobs and to lift millions out of poverty. El Dabaa is not just Egypt’s victory; it is Africa’s inspiration. It is time for the rest of the continent to follow suit. The future of African nuclear energy is unfolding before us. Will we seize it or will we watch from the sidelines?

• Princess Mthombeni, an award-winning nuclear communicator, writes in her role as a founder and communications lead at Africa4Nuclear

For opinion and analysis consideration, e-mail Opinions@timeslive.co.za