December 8, 2022, Cairo, Egypt – Rosatom took part in the 6th Arab Forum on the prospects of nuclear energy for power generation and seawater desalination held in Cairo, Egypt from December 6-8, 2022. Rosatom acted as a platinum sponsor of the event and took an active part in the Forum’s business program and its exhibition exposition.
The 6th Arab Forum was organized by the Egyptian Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA) and the Arab Atomic Energy Agency in cooperation with the League of Arab States. The event was held under the patronage of the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy of the Arab Republic of Egypt. The forum brought together key stakeholders and leading companies in the Middle East and North Africa peaceful nuclear energy market from Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Sudan, UAE, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and others. The forum is one of the main regional events to discuss the nuclear agenda.
Alexander Korchagin, Senior Vice President of ASE JSC for NPP construction project management, took part in the round table to discuss the role of nuclear power in the sustainable development of Arab countries. “The uniqueness of nuclear power lies precisely in its economic stability and predictability, allowing for energy sustainability, while meeting the requirements of sustainable development, decarbonisation, and the climate agenda. It operates 24/7 regardless of weather conditions and does not suffer from volatility,” the speaker noted, adding that “the El-Dabaa NPP project will provide electricity to about 20 million people in Egypt (19% of Egypt’s population), the share of low-carbon sources in the country will increase to 22% after the NPP is commissioned, and the expected CO2 emissions savings will be 7% of current emissions.”
Alexander Voronkov, Regional Vice President and Director of Rosatom – Middle East and North Africa, gave a presentation on the global development of Rosatom during the first day of the Forum. In his speech, Alexander Voronkov talked about the history of Russia’s nuclear industry, which is more than 75 years old, and also elaborated on the VVER-1200 generation 3+ reactor technology, which is Rosatom’s flagship technology. “VVER-1200 is the latest development in a long line of VVER power units. Rosatom has already successfully implemented 80 projects with VVER-type reactors, it is one of the most widespread reactor technologies. Their advantage is the combination of active and passive safety systems, which make our technology the safest in the world.” The speaker also noted the potential for cooperation in other applications of atomic energy. “Russia historically has close ties with the Middle East region. In the early days of nuclear programmes in the region, we were the first to give a helping hand to our Arab partners. And today we are implementing the first Generation 3+ nuclear power plant project on the African continent, a project which is very important for the future development of Egypt and the entire region. However, just as nuclear power is much more than just a clean energy source, Rosatom is much more than just building nuclear power plants. Our portfolio includes a whole range of products and solutions for nuclear applications in seawater desalination and water treatment, medical, agricultural and industrial applications, supply of isotope products, where we are one of the world leaders and many others. We are glad to develop cooperation with the countries of the region and are open to dialogue on these and other peaceful applications of atomic energy.” Alexander Voronkov also took part in a round-table discussion on mechanisms for distributing information to the public about nuclear power. The participants talked about the current challenges in raising public awareness of nuclear technologies.
The State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom also took part in the Forum’s exposition where the guests of the stand had an opportunity to see the augmented reality mobile application “NPP with VVER-1200 technology.” Using the app allowed to see an interactive 3D model of the NPP based on Russian reactor technology, to study in details the main facilities and equipment components of the nuclear power plant, to look inside the turbine and reactor buildings, to study the safety systems of modern Russian reactors, and to learn the principles of NPP operation.
