The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by the Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Mohamed Shaker, and the Director General of the Russian Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) Alexei Likhachev.
Work is focused on constructing the first of four reactors at the facility located in the northwest of Marsa Matrouh Governorate, 300 km from Cairo.
Shaker confirmed that the Dabaa plant will comply with the security measures of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
He noted that it can withstand earthquakes and plane crashes, adding that the lifespan of the reactors can be extended to 60 years.
Likhachev said that this work gives Egypt a chance to reach a new industrial and technological level.
He stressed that achieving nuclear energy has been a dream of the Egyptians for more than half a century, and Rosatom is honored to achieve it.
In an interview with Al-Ahram newspaper, Amgad Al-Wakeel, head of the Nuclear Power Plants Authority, confirmed that the project could generate net revenues of up to $264 billion over six decades.
The plant will contain four VVER-1200 pressurized water reactors, each with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts.
In December 2017, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an agreement in the capital to start work on the plant at a cost of $28.75 billion.
Russia will finance 85% of the total with a $25 billion loan to be repaid over 22 years and 3% interest.
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