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Remember I posted a while ago a report that world intelligence agencies say that Egypt is getting ready to get nuclear?
Remember how you mocked me and called it nonsense?
Well:
Egypt set to build nuclear energy plant
Iran and Iraq the main spur to development, Israel is also a consideration.
By Daniel Sobelman (Ha'aretz)
Electricity and Energy Minister Dr. Hassan Ahmed Yunes has announced that Egypt will build a nuclear energy plant, the first such electricity generating facility in the country. It will be on the coast northwest of Alexandria.
Yunes announced the plant during a visit to the city on Saturday and said funds will also be allocated to repair and modernize the local electricity network. The minister's statement on the nuclear plant came a few days after a report in the German daily Die Welt said Egypt wants nuclear weapons.
The German report on June 22, quoting well-placed intelligence sources, said Egypt intended to manufacture enriched uranium with Chinese help.
(Remeber I told you about it? - Siro)
Cairo has not confirmed or denied the Die Welt report, but its official news agency said China had no intention of helping Egypt to produce enriched uranium. The news agency interviewed China's ambassador in Cairo, who said his country has signed the non-proliferation treaty (NPT), and operates according to it. The agency report alluded to the Die Welt article, without denying its contents.
Yunes' statement two days ago also came less than a year after the previous electricity and energy minister Ali el-Saiedi said Cairo intended to produce energy from nuclear power. But he said emphatically last August that Egypt had no plans to produce electricity from nuclear sources. El-Saiedi told Al-Wafd: "Thank God we have large quantities of gas and so we have the option of choosing between using these gas sources or building nuclear power facilities. The decision is based on economic considerations and in this respect, gas is a better option."
But el-Saiedi added that should Egypt decide to go ahead with plans for a nuclear plant, it would succeed "because we have no problem in terms of personnel and capabilities." El-Saiedi made his statement after Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak had signed an agreement in Moscow (on 27 April 2001) for Egyptian-Russian civilian nuclear cooperation.
Emily Landau, from the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, last night said "if Egypt intends to develop nuclear military capabilities, there would be no surprise in reports from Egypt that they also want to use nuclear energy for civilian purposes."
Egypt's statements on nuclear matters are influenced by its signing of NPT, Landau said. She said if it were true that Egypt had decided to go for nuclear capabilities "its main motivation would derive from developments in the Gulf - that is, Iran and Iraq - and less from Israel."
But Landau said "Israel is not out of the picture" Egyptian officials look at when they consider nuclear possibilities.
Remember how you mocked me and called it nonsense?
Well:
Egypt set to build nuclear energy plant
Iran and Iraq the main spur to development, Israel is also a consideration.
By Daniel Sobelman (Ha'aretz)
Electricity and Energy Minister Dr. Hassan Ahmed Yunes has announced that Egypt will build a nuclear energy plant, the first such electricity generating facility in the country. It will be on the coast northwest of Alexandria.
Yunes announced the plant during a visit to the city on Saturday and said funds will also be allocated to repair and modernize the local electricity network. The minister's statement on the nuclear plant came a few days after a report in the German daily Die Welt said Egypt wants nuclear weapons.
The German report on June 22, quoting well-placed intelligence sources, said Egypt intended to manufacture enriched uranium with Chinese help.
(Remeber I told you about it? - Siro)
Cairo has not confirmed or denied the Die Welt report, but its official news agency said China had no intention of helping Egypt to produce enriched uranium. The news agency interviewed China's ambassador in Cairo, who said his country has signed the non-proliferation treaty (NPT), and operates according to it. The agency report alluded to the Die Welt article, without denying its contents.
Yunes' statement two days ago also came less than a year after the previous electricity and energy minister Ali el-Saiedi said Cairo intended to produce energy from nuclear power. But he said emphatically last August that Egypt had no plans to produce electricity from nuclear sources. El-Saiedi told Al-Wafd: "Thank God we have large quantities of gas and so we have the option of choosing between using these gas sources or building nuclear power facilities. The decision is based on economic considerations and in this respect, gas is a better option."
But el-Saiedi added that should Egypt decide to go ahead with plans for a nuclear plant, it would succeed "because we have no problem in terms of personnel and capabilities." El-Saiedi made his statement after Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak had signed an agreement in Moscow (on 27 April 2001) for Egyptian-Russian civilian nuclear cooperation.
Emily Landau, from the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, last night said "if Egypt intends to develop nuclear military capabilities, there would be no surprise in reports from Egypt that they also want to use nuclear energy for civilian purposes."
Egypt's statements on nuclear matters are influenced by its signing of NPT, Landau said. She said if it were true that Egypt had decided to go for nuclear capabilities "its main motivation would derive from developments in the Gulf - that is, Iran and Iraq - and less from Israel."
But Landau said "Israel is not out of the picture" Egyptian officials look at when they consider nuclear possibilities.
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