On 9 February 1956, Egypt signed a contract with the Soviet Union to obtain a 2.5 MeV Van De Graff Accelerator and equipment for a nuclear laboratory. [2] Egypt commissioned the Van de Graff Accelerator in 1959, making it the country's first nuclear facility. [3]

According to R. Scott Kemp, only particle accelerators that can accelerate protons to energies greater than 2 MeV, or electrons to energies greater than 16 MeV, are able to produce the necessary reactions to transmute light elements. In addition, sufficient material production requires a high current beam. [4] Therefore, a low energy accelerator unable to transmute heavy elements does not pose a proliferation risk.

Key Sources:
[1] Judith Perera, "Nuclear Industry of Egypt," March 2003, p. 16, www.opensource.gov.
[2] Egypt State Information Service, "Egypt and Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East," www.sis.gov.eg/En.
[3] Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority website, "EAEA Landmarks," www.eaea.org.eg.
[4] R. Scott Kemp, "Nuclear Proliferation with Particle Accelerators," Science and Global Security 13, 2005, pp. 183-207.