Egypt is a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and will abide by its international pledges, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Sunday.
Al-Sisi’s comments came less than two weeks after Egypt signed a memorandum of agreement with Russia to build a nuclear power plant in Dabaa on the Mediterranean coast, during President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Cairo.
“Egypt is a country that does not go into adventures and has no hidden agenda to follow,” al-Sisi said in a televised speech aired in segments.
“Egypt needs large amounts of energy at the present time and in the future,” al-Sisi said. “We cannot ask investors to have projects in a country with an energy crisis.”
Al-Sisi said for that for this reason, “diversity and multiplicity” of energy resources is a must and the country cannot be exclusively dependent on gas or coal power plants.
“The nuclear energy is cheaper in the longer term,” he added.
Following the announcement of the nuclear project, the US state department said it “would not oppose a nuclear deal for peaceful purposes” between Russia and Egypt.
State Department Spokesman Jen Psaki said in a daily press briefing that the U.S. has no concerns as long as “obligations under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty to which Egypt is a signatory and obligations to the (International Atomic Energy Agency) are fully met.”
Egypt has been suffering from an acute energy crunch as foreign oil companies suspend extraction works on the back of growing arrears as political turmoil rose in the aftermath of a popular uprising in 2011. Parts of the national grid are also in need of renovation.
Source: Ahram Online
