Inclusion in this chronology does not necessarily indicate that a particular development is of direct or indirect proliferation significance. Some entries provide international or domestic context for technological development and national policymaking. Moreover, some entries may refer to developments with positive consequences for nonproliferation.

1990
An Egyptian specialist is sent to France and Yugoslavia to train in the technology and application of neutron radiography. Subsequently various equipment is installed at Inshas, including in-cell equipment for producing Iodine-131 and a line for Technetium-99m production.
—Barbara M. Gregory, "Egypt's Nuclear Program Assessing Supplier-Based and Other Developmental Constraints," Nonproliferation Review, Fall 1995, p. 22.

1990
Egypt reportedly cooperates with Pakistan, Iraq, and Argentina to construct a plutonium-producing reactor for nuclear weapons.
—"Egypt's Budding Nuclear Program," The Risk Report, Vol. 2, No. 5, (September-October 1996).

January 1990
The Inshas research reactor, which was shut down for upgrades during the 1980s, resumes operations. According to Dr. Hamid Rushdi, head of the Atomic Energy Authority, the reactor's renovations were safety-related. Dr. Rushdi notes that the reactor "will serve not only research purposes, but also have industrial applications and produce important isotopes…particularly iodine-131." Dr. Rushdi adds states that Egypt "can…construct, operate, and carry out maintenance on projects involving the production of nuclear energy."
—"Inshas Nuclear Reactor Resumes Operation," Middle East News Agency, 10 January 1990, in FBIS, FBIS-NES-90-008, 11 January 1990.

29 October 1990
Egypt submits a draft resolution entitled "Establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the region of the Middle East" (A/C.1/45/L.1) to the First Committee of the UN General Assembly. On 13 November 1990 the Committee adopts the resolution and recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of the resolution.
—"Establishment of a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in the Region of the Middle East," Report of the First Committee, United Nations, A/45/771, 21 November 1990, <http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf>.

November 1990
According to the London-based newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, the Egyptian government completes a study to determine the most important source of uranium in Egypt as part of its plan to produce nuclear fuel from indigenous raw materials. The study reveals that the most important sources of uranium are "pink granite," found in the granite belt between Qina and Safaja in the Eastern Desert, and in pink granite rocks northwest of the city of al-Ghurdaqah on the Red Sea coast, as well as sedimentary and phosphate rock, and black sand. The Egyptian Nuclear Materials Authority will "oversee the installation and operation of a uranium production line in the Abu Za'bal [Company for Fertilizers and Chemicals]," which is the only plant in Egypt manufacturing phosphoric acid as an intermediary, from which uranium could be extracted. The current production capacity of the Abu Zabal plant is 70,000 tons of raw phosphate a year, which translates into about 15 tons of uranium after it is extracted from phosphate fertilizers. The Abu Zabal plant plans to double its production by 1992. Other companies also involved in mining phosphate are the Red Sea Phosphate Company, al-Nasr Phosphate Company, the Egyptian Financial and Industrial Company, and Egypt Phosphate Company.
—"Uranium Finds Expected to Increase Energy Sufficiency," Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, 14 November 1990, in FBIS, JPRS-TND-91-003, 25 February 1991.

1991
Egypt signs an agreement with India to increase the capacity of ETRR-1 to 5MW.
—"Nuclear Research Center," Federation of American Scientists, October 1999, <http//www.fas.org/nuke/guide/egypt/facility/nrc.htm>.

1991
Egypt signs an agreement with Russia for the delivery of a Russian MGC-20 cyclotron accelerator.
—"Egypt's Nuclear Weapons Program," GlobalSecurity.org, 12 August 2003, <http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/egypt/nuke.htm>.

2-6 February 1992
The First Arab Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy takes place in Tripoli, Libya.
—M. Al-Kofahi, ed., "The Proceedings of the First Arab Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy," Arab Atomic Energy Agency, 31 December 1993, via ETDEWEB, OSTI ID 170596, <http://www.etde.org/etdeweb/>.

16 September 1992
Ali Fahmy El-Saiadi, head of Egypt's Nuclear Power Plants Authority announces at an IAEA seminar that Egypt intends to build a 600MW "plant of advanced design" at the El-Dabaa site West of Alexandria. The Egyptian government includes the project in its official five-year plan beginning in 1992-93.
—Margaret L. Ryan, "Egypt is Again Considering Construction of Nuclear Plant," Nucleonics Week, Vol. 33, No. 39, 24 September 1992, via Lexis-Nexis, 24 September 1992.

19 September 1992
Egypt and Argentina sign an agreement to build a 22MW research reactor. The Electricity and Energy Minister Mahir Abazah states that the purpose of the reactor is "only to produce isotopes necessary to develop the scientific and technological infrastructure and to exploit the desert." The reactor would cost about $44 million and be operational within five years.
—"Reactor To Be Imported From Argentina," Middle East News Agency, 19 September 1992, in FBIS, FBIS-NES-92-187, 25 September 1992.

1 December 1992
Construction begins on the 22MW research reactor contracted to Argentina.
—"ETRR-2," Nuclear Research Reactors in the World, IAEA, 21 September 1998, <http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/rrdb/>.

5-9 November 1994
The Second Arab Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy takes place in Cairo, Egypt.
—"Proceedings of the Second Arab Conference on the Peaceful Uses Of Atomic Energy, Cairo 5-9/11/1994," Arab Atomic Energy Agency, 31 December 1995, via ETDEWEB, OSTI ID 375605, <http://www.etde.org/etdeweb/>.

31 January 1995
In a letter to an Egyptian newspaper, former Minister of Defense and intelligence chief Amin Howeidi writes that the Israeli nuclear threat can be adequately countered with conventional weapons, plus chemical, biological and incendiary weapons, "until Egypt develops its own nuclear deterrent."
—"Egypt's Former Defense Minister: How to Counter the Israeli Nuclear Deterrent," Mideast Mirror, Vol. 9, No. 21, 31 January 1995, via Lexis-Nexis, <http://www.lexis-nexis.com/>.

17 April-12 May 1995
At the NPT Review and Extension Conference Egypt leads the Arab states in strong opposition to efforts to extend the NPT indefinitely because of Israel's refusal to accede to the NPT.
—"Egypt's Budding Nuclear Program" The Risk Report, Vol. 2, No. 5, (September-October 1996); William Epstein, "Indefinite Extension with Increase Responsibility," The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, January 1995, <http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/1995/ja95/ja95.npt.html>.

24 July 1995
In an interview with an Egyptian weekly Al Arabi, Dr. Salah Hedayat, the Minister of Scientific Research under President Nasser, states that Egypt began a secret nuclear weapons program some years before Israel embarked on its program, but abandoned it in the 1970s after the death of President Nasser. Dr. Hedayat recalls that after the Soviet Union refused to upgrade the research reactor at Inshas "on grounds of technical safety factors," he went to Germany, "where a firm prepared for us the design of a reactor with the required safety specifications."
—"Egypt Unveils Nasser's Secret Nuclear Weapons Programme," Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 24 July 1995, via Lexis-Nexis, <http://www.lexis-nexis.com/>.

1 October 1995
Egyptian police detain four men trying to sell 5kg of a "mysterious" liquid in a flask marked "DANGER-NUCLEAR" for $1 million. Sources speculate that the liquid could have been uranium or "red mercury."
—"News Briefing," Uranium Institute, NB95.40-20, 27 September-3 October 1995, <http://www.world-nuclear.org/nb/nb95/nb9540.htm>.

1996
A new uranium deposit area is discovered at Gebel Kadabora.
—"Egypt's Budding Nuclear Program," The Risk Report, Vol. 2, No. 5, (September-October 1996).

1 March 1996
The Nuclear Materials Authority of Egypt contracts Argentina's INVAP to design and build a fuel element pilot plant to extract uranium from phosphoric acid. The plant's capacity is reportedly either 24 or 40 fuel elements per year. The main process performed in the plant includes the manufacturing of U3O8 powder, structural components, fuel plates, fuel assembly, and quality control tasks. The starting material is uranium hexafluoride gas (UF6), 19.75 percent enriched.
—"Nuclear Research Center," Federation of American Scientists, October 1999, <http//www.fas.org/nuke/guide/egypt/facility/nrc.htm>.

25 November 1996
The Minister of Electricity and Energy Mahir Abazah announces that the first stage of the project to extract uranium from phosphoric acid will begin in December 1996.
—"Minister Says Uranium Will Fuel Atomic Research Reactors," Middle East News Agency, 25 November 1996, in FBIS, FBIS-NES-96-228, 26 November 1996.

9-13 December 1996
The Third Arab Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy takes place in Damascus, Syria.
—El-Mashri, S.M. (ed.), Proceedings of the Third Arab Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, Vol. A, B," Arab Atomic Energy Agency, 1 June 1998, via ETDEWEB, OSTI ID 20127599, <http://www.etde.org/etdeweb/>.

23 December 1996
Electricity Minister Mohammed Maher Abaza tells parliament that Egypt plans to begin construction of its first nuclear power plant at the turn of the century at El-Dabaa, 388km northwest of Cairo between Alexandria and Marsa Matrouh. [Note: El-Dabaa was selected in the 1980s after an evaluation by France's Framatome.]
—"Egypt Pursuing Plans to Build a Nuclear Plant at El-Dabaa," Nucleonics Week, Vol. 38, No. 1, p. 1, 2 January 1997, via Lexis-Nexis, 23 January 1997.

March-May 1997
Under contract from the Nuclear Power Plants Authority, the Electric Power Systems Engineering Company carries out a study entitled "Design of Closed Cycle for Hydraulic Laboratory - El-Dabaa."
—"Table of Projects," Electric Power Systems Engineering Company, <http://www.eps-egypt.com/table_of_projects7.html>, page accessed on 10 April 2003.

May 1997-June 1997
Under contract from the Nuclear Power Authority, the Electric Power Systems Engineering Company carries out a project entitled "Engineering of the Spent Fuel Storage Tank Project, Inshass Reactor."
—"Table of Projects," Electric Power Systems Engineering Company, <http://www.eps-egypt.com/table_of_projects7.html>, page accessed on 10 April 2003.

27 November 1997
Egypt's second research reactor at Inshas ETRR-2 goes critical. The 22MW reactor is an open pool-type multipurpose reactor cooled and moderated by light water. It uses low-enriched uranium for fuel. The reactor is built entirely by the Rio Negro company, while INVAP handles the design, manufacture, installation, and start-up. The reactor costs $154 million. According to the Atomic Energy Authority of Egypt, the ETRR-2 will be used for radioisotope production, including cobalt-60 source production, nuclear fuel research and development, and personnel training in nuclear engineering and reactor operation.
—"Second Research Reactor Proceeding to Full Power," Nuclear News, May 1998, in Lexis-Nexis, 1 June 1998; "Company Says Nuclear Reactor in Egypt 'Operational'," Telam, 12 March 1998, in FBIS Document PY1303223098.

February 1998
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Argentine President Carlos Menem inaugurate Egypt's second nuclear reactor at Inshas ETRR-2.
—"Company Says Nuclear Reactor in Egypt ‘Operational'," Telam, 12 March 1998, in FBIS Document PY1303223098, 03/12/1998; The Risk Report, Vol. 6, No. 5 (September-October 2000).

February 1998-September 1998
Under contract from the Nuclear Power Authority, the Electric Power Systems Engineering Company conducts "rehabilitation and renovation" work on the Inshas reactor ETRR-1.
—"Table of Projects," Electric Power Systems Engineering Company, <http://www.eps-egypt.com/table_of_projects7.html>, page accessed on 10 April 2003.

4 October 1998
President Mubarak asserts in an interview that Egypt "will not hesitate" to develop or acquire nuclear weapons, should it become necessary. He adds, "The substances used in nuclear weapons are now easy to obtain and can be purchased easily."
—George Sam'an, "Egypt's Mubarak on Current Issues," Al-Hayah (London), 5 October 1998, via FBIS, FTS19981006000309, 6 October 1998.

November 1998
As part of the assessment for its first nuclear power plant Egypt plans to conduct a feasibility study for the nuclear power plant and seawater desalination facility with technical assistance from IAEA. El-Dabaa, near Alexandria, is chosen for the study.
—P.J. Gowin, T. Konishi and J. Kupitz, "Nuclear and Fossil Seawater Desalination: General Considerations and Economic Evaluation," IAEA, November 1998, <http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/Vision/Documents/
NuclearDesalination.PDF>.

21 October 1999
Lieutenant General Salah Halabi, head of the Arab Industrialization Authority, states in a speech to the Egyptian Foreign Affairs Council that "If Egypt does not manage to force or persuade Israel to relinquish its nuclear weapons, there is no way but to find an alternative solution, and that is to obtain this weapon."
—Al-Ahram Weekly (Egypt), 21 October 1999, as cited in Yotam Feldner, "Egypt Rethinks its Nuclear Program: The Egyptian Nuclear Lobby (2)," The Middle East Media Research Institute, 22 January 2003, <http://www.memri.org/>.

	Updated August 2005