Work under way on El Dabaa local area network

Monday, 28 April 2025

Rosatom Automated Control Systems (JSC RASU) said it had begun the construction of the network, which will be isolated from external connections, in accordance with international security standards. It also includes firewalls and built-in security systems to protect against cyber threats and unauthorised access to critical data.

"Centralised network management will make it possible to quickly configure equipment, update software and quickly troubleshoot without stopping the station," the company added.

Ilya Litvinov, Director of the Middle East and Africa Projects Department at RASU, said: "The main objective of the project is to create a single distributed data transmission environment that guarantees secure information exchange between all network participants - nuclear power plant operational personnel and all connected devices. The technical solutions used meet current requirements for data transmission speed and reliability. This approach will ensure stable operation of digital systems throughout the entire life cycle of the plant."

Work continues on units
 

Construction work is taking place across the four-unit El Dabaa site. The latest progress announcement was that the first stage of concreting the second tier of unit 2's inner containment building has been completed.

_{(Image: NPPA)}

More than 100 people were involved in the work, with 1200 cubic metres of concrete poured during a 24-hour continuous pouring process. A similar amount will also be poured during the second of the two-stage process.

Alexey Kononenko, Vice President of Atomstroyexport and Director of the El Dabaa construction project, said the second unit was "approaching the implementation of one of the key events of 2025 - the completion of concreting the second tier of the containment, which is scheduled for May of this year", praising "fruitful cooperation with the Egyptian customer and the high professionalism of our colleagues from the contractors".

Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Nuclear Power Plants Authority of Egypt (NPPA) Sherif Helmy said: "This achievement is the result of the joint efforts of the Egyptian team, represented by the customer - NPPA, and the Russian team, represented by the general contractor - JSC Atomstroyexport."

The background
 

El Dabaa will be Egypt's first nuclear power plant, and the first in Africa since South Africa's Koeberg was built nearly 40 years ago. The Rosatom-led project, about 320 kilometres north-west of Cairo, will comprise four VVER-1200 units, like those already in operation at the Leningrad and Novovoronezh nuclear power plants in Russia, and the Ostrovets plant in Belarus.

Under the 2017 contracts, Rosatom will build the plant and also supply Russian nuclear fuel for its entire life cycle, including building a storage facility and supplying containers for storing used nuclear fuel. It will also assist Egyptian partners in training personnel and plant maintenance for the first 10 years of its operation.

The four units are being built almost concurrently, with first concrete at unit 1 in July 2022, followed in turn by the others, concluding with first concrete at unit 4 in January 2024. Egypt's aim is for 9% of electricity to be generated by nuclear by 2030, which would be achieved by the commercial operation of the first two units by that time, directly displacing oil and gas.