CAIRO Ñ Egypt has rejected U.S. pressure to suspend plans to
construct eight nuclear reactors in the country.
The United States has quietly relayed its concern over the nuclear power
project. Western diplomatic sources said Washington does not want Egypt to
build a nuclear infrastructure that could quickly be diverted for the
production of weapons of mass destruction.
Officials said President Hosni Mubarak has pledged to continue a program
to establish a network of nuclear power plants in an effort to replace oil, Middle East Newsline reported.
The officials said the project is being conducted with the International
Atomic Energy Agency as well as Western suppliers.
Mubarak is scheduled to arrive in the United States on June 6. Two days
later the Egyptian president will meet President George Bush.
Earlier this month, Egyptian Electricity Minister Hassan Yunis pledged
to continue the nuclear program and denied that it had been suspended. Yunis
told the London-based A-Sharq Al Awsat that the project would include
training for Egyptian engineers and technicians as well as introduction of
the most advanced safety features.
Officials said, however, that Egypt wants to recruit other Arab states
in a regional nuclear power effort. In a seminar this month in
Cairo, Yunis called on Arab states to to cooperate in ensuring that nuclear
power replaces oil in the production of electricity.
Yunis also told an Egyptian parliamentary committee that the first
reactor would be constructed by 2010. He said the plans were drafted after a
study by a panel of Egyptian experts on the savings of nuclear energy to the
nation's resources.
Egypt has signed agreements for nuclear cooperation with several
countries, including Argentina and Russia. In 1997, Argentina completed a 22
megawatt research reactor. Both of Egypt's known nuclear facilities are
under supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Cairo has signed new nuclear accords for cooperation, the officials
said. They said the nuclear power reactor would be constructed in
cooperation with China and South Korea. in a 30-year accord.
