Potential Egyptian Nuclear Program Sparks Concern

Egyptian leaders’ consideration of a renewed nuclear power program is adding to concerns that an atomic arms race could ignite in the Middle East, ISN Security Watch said Monday (see GSN, Jan. 26).

The ruling National Democratic Party appears to favor resuming the country’s nuclear energy program, which was suspended more than two decades ago when the Chernobyl disaster led Egypt to halt preparations for a 1,000-megawatt reactor.

Egypt continues to oppose WMD proliferation in the region, officials say.  While nuclear reactors, fuel and technology could support a weapons program, one expert said that Egypt’s interest in a program is solely “economic.”

Egypt would be willing to import and return reactor fuel, so that it would not develop uranium enrichment expertise that could be used to produce weapons material, said Abdel Hakim Kandil, nuclear and inorganic chemistry professor at Helwan University in Cairo.

“You have agreements with the people who supply you with the (nuclear) fuel.  We do not have (uranium) enrichment technology in Egypt,” he said.

The most advanced nuclear research programs among Arab states is believed to be Egypt’s.  The International Atomic Energy Agency reported in 2005 that Egypt had performed unreported nuclear research as late as 2003 (see GSN, March 2, 2005).  These “secret nuclear experiments” involved work “that could be used in weapons programs,” diplomatic sources told the Associated Press at the time.

A number of Middle Eastern states have recently expressed interest in nuclear power programs (see GSN, Feb. 16).  The United States and other nations suspect that Iran’s effort masks a nuclear weapons program (see related GSN story, today).

There is no connection between Iran’s program and Egypt’s renewed interest in nuclear power, Mohamed Shaker, vice president of the Egyptian Foreign Affairs Council, told ISN Security Watch.

“I think (the decision) emanates from the fact that we really won’t have oil and gas in 40 years,” he said.

“The final decision has not been made yet on reactivating the nuclear power program.  It is a preliminary decision.  It is still be discussed in the ruling party and in the Higher Council of Energy,” Shaker said (Dominic Moran, ISN Security Watch, March 26).

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