Parliament approves regulations for nuclear activities

CAIRO – 28 November 2017: The House of Representatives approved on Monday a draft law aiming to form an Executive Authority Board for the supervision of nuclear stations that generate electricity after amending the 1976 law (Law No. 13/1976). This came before signing the contract of the Dabaa nuclear plant which is set to take place in the coming weeks.

After the State Council’s department of legislation revised the 19 articles in the draft law, it called on the parliament to amend certain sections.

Egypt’s Ministry of Electricity and Energy requested the House of Representatives to speed up the discussions and issue the bill before signing the Dabaa nuclear plant contract.

The amendments made by the parliament include changing the executive authority which is in charge of supervising the constructions of the nuclear power stations.

The amendments aim to grant the authority more power in terms of signing contracts with the private sector inside and outside of Egypt in the field of building nuclear power stations, carrying out experiments within the nuclear power stations, hiring qualified staff for the operation of the nuclear power stations, issuing progress reports on nuclear projects, and releasing annual reports on the authority's finances to be revised by the minister of electricity.

The amendments also state that contractors and sub-contractors hired by the authority, as well as loans taken by the authority from foreign sources for the purpose of building nuclear power projects in Egypt are exempt from taxes.

Parliament’s Energy and Environment Committee approved on November 25 the draft law aimed at regulating the activities of nuclear power stations in the country, which is the first law of its kind in Egypt.

The draft law states that the new executive authority will coordinate closely with the Nuclear Power Station’s Authority and the Nuclear and Radiation Control Authority.

"The new executive authority, which will be affiliated to the Ministry of Electricity and Energy, will be exclusively tasked with supervising the construction of nuclear power stations in terms of selecting contractors, reviewing the progress of construction works and the experimental operation of these projects and issuing firsthand reports on them," said the draft law's explanatory note.

The draft law states that the board of the new executive authority will include representatives from the ministries of electricity, defense, interior, finance, planning, telecommunication, military production and environment, as well as representatives from the State Council, the Nuclear Power Authority, the Nuclear and Radiation Control Authority, and affiliated provincial governors.

Representatives from the General Intelligence and the Administrative Control Authority will be also allowed to attend the meetings of the new executive authority as "observers without having voting powers."