CAIRO: Egypt has completed technical studies and is preparing to invite tenders for building its first nuclear power plant, the official MENA news agency said Tuesday.
Minister of Electricity Hassan Younes was quoted as saying that the specifications of the project had been "prepared and reviewed by the concerned agencies."
He added the study had taken into account the experience of the Japanese Fukushima nuclear plant devastated in a tsunami earlier this year but gave no further details.
The project, formalized last August, will be built on the Mediterranean coast and is designed to meet the energy needs of a nation expecting strong economic and population growth.
The floating of the tender had been delayed due to the political unrest that ousted president Hosni Mubarak on Feb. 11 and the severe economic crisis that followed.
The project of around 1,000 megawatt aims to start electricity generation in 2019.
Younes, who was previously the energy minister, had said the cost of the plant would be about $4 billion.
