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Thursday, January 17, 2008       Free Headline Alerts

Plane crash reveals Egypt's uranium search

CAIRO — On Jan. 15, two pilots were killed when a plane belonging to the Nuclear Materials Authority crashed. The King Air-90 turboprop aircraft crashed in Port Said at the northern entrance of the Suez Canal.

Egypt has never reported an effort to search for uranium.

Egypt has been searching for uranium as part of its emerging nuclear program.

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The official Egyptian news agency, Middle East News Agency, reported that the aircraft was on a reconnaissance flight when it crashed suddenly. MENA said the aircraft was used to search for uranium in the Gulf of Suez and Egypt's Western Desert.

Government and industry sources said the Nuclear Materials Authority has been conducting air and ground tests in northern Egypt believed to contain significant deposits of uranium. The sources said Egypt, with plans to build up to 11 reactors, has sought to become self-sufficient in any nuclear energy program.

"The search for uranium and other metals has been going on for at least a year," an industry source said.

The U.S.-origin King Air-90 was the only aircraft used by the Nuclear Materials Authority.

In October 2007, President Hosni Mubarak said Egypt would build several nuclear reactors to generate electricity. Mubarak has been discussing Egypt's program with such countries as China, France, Kazakhstan, Russia and the United States.



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