S Korea, Russian company sign $2.25b deal for Egypt’s first nuclear power plant

File: Nuclear power plants, Kori 1, right, and Shin Kori 2 are seen in Ulsan, South Korea, Feb. 5, 2013 (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
File: Nuclear power plants, Kori 1, right, and Shin Kori 2 are seen in Ulsan, South Korea, Feb. 5, 2013 (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

South Korea has signed a 3 trillion won ($2.25 billion) deal with a Russian state-run nuclear energy company to provide components for Egypt’s first nuclear power plant.

South Korea’s government says the contract between the state-run Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power and ASE requires the South Koreans to provide turbine-related equipment and construction work for the plant being built in Dabaa, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) northwest of Cairo on the Mediterranean coast.

ASE is a subsidiary of Rosatom, a state-owned Russian nuclear conglomerate.

A senior aide of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol says the negotiations were slowed by “unexpected variables,” mainly Russia’s war on Ukraine and the US-led sanctions campaign against Moscow over its aggression.

Choi Sang-mok, Yoon’s senior secretary for economic affairs, says South Korea provided an explanation to the United States in advance about its plans to participate in the Dabaa project and that the allies will maintain close consultation as the work proceeds.

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