Politico reports Egypt accused Rosatom of safety violations at El Dabaa nuclear plant
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Egypt's nuclear regulator accused Russia's Rosatom of safety and engineering violations at the El Dabaa nuclear plant in a confidential June 4 letter, Politico reported. The letter cited defects in reactor foundation slabs, lapses in nuclear safety culture and the 'deliberate negligence' of a project manager. Rosatom said it maintains a high level of nuclear safety at the site.
Key Facts
- Egypt's Nuclear Power Plants Authority sent a June 4 confidential letter to Rosatom listing safety and engineering violations at the El Dabaa nuclear plant.
- The letter said defects in the foundation slabs of units 1, 2 and 3 took a year to repair, and voids were found in the concrete of unit 4.
- Egypt accused Rosatom of using 'misleading methods' and 'fake works' to show the project was more than half complete, while the main buildings remained at the underground construction stage.
- A 2025 Rosatom internal audit warned that failure to meet contract obligations was a 'significant risk', and included a scenario in which the first unit launch slips from September 2028 to March 2030.
- Rosatom told Politico it maintained a high level of nuclear safety at El Dabaa.
The Accusations
The June 4 letter from Egypt's Nuclear Power Plants Authority to a Rosatom executive listed violations at the El Dabaa nuclear plant. It said several reactor blocks had defects and that nuclear safety culture requirements had been breached. Egypt accused Rosatom of using 'misleading methods' and 'fake works' to show the project was more than half complete, while the main buildings remained at the underground construction stage. The documents were provided to media by an intelligence officer on condition of anonymity and had not previously been made public.
Site Conditions and Audits
Egyptian officials said workers were found with prohibited alcohol and used fake permits, and posted photos and videos from the construction site on social media. One worker suffered a severe open fracture and was taken away in a private car rather than an equipped ambulance, which Egypt called a deliberate concealment and a gross violation of labour safety rules. Four internal Rosatom documents reviewed by Politico confirmed some of the regulator's concerns, describing construction delays, quality problems and project management shortcomings. A 2025 Rosatom internal audit warned that failure to meet contract obligations was a 'significant risk', and included a scenario in which the first unit launch slips from September 2028 to March 2030. Rosatom told Politico in a statement that it ensures a high level of nuclear safety at El Dabaa.
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Politico reports Egypt accused Rosatom of safety violations at El Dabaa nuclear plant
