El Dabaa (Arabic: الضبعة pronounced [edˈdɑbʕɑ]) is a town in the Matrouh Governorate, Egypt. It lies 296 kilometres (184 mi) from Cairo on the north coast and is served by the El Alamain International Airport. It is famous for the Russian technology nuclear power plant being constructed to the north east of the city boundaries.[1]
El Dabaa
الضبعة | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country | Egypt |
| Governorate | Matrouh |
| Population | |
• Estimate (2017) | 49,805 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EST) |
As of 2017, El Dabaa had an estimated population of 49,805.
In 2012, a story published in the news section of Nature Journal website, stated that:"... [radioactive] material was taken from a laboratory at the El Dabaa nuclear power plant on the country's Mediterranean coast."[2] But as of 2020, the El Dabaa nuclear power plant was only bare land.[3] As of 2017, only the first stage of preliminary engineering survey was conducted and the hydrographic and hydrological survey work was carried on. The construction on the plant was expected to start in 2020, but at the beginning of 2021 it was still in the waiting.[4]
El Dabaa has been targeted by protesters who are claiming that their land was wrongly taken by the government to make way for the nuclear plant. As of 2012, and as a result of those protests, the proposed construction site[3] was shut down.[2] The protests that targeted El Dabaa was ended by the court announcing that they had the right to the land.[citation needed]
El Dabaa Nuclear Project
editThe residents of El Dabaa decided to give up the land.[5] The Armed Forces thanked the residents of El-Dabaa for their contributions in handing over the land allocated for the establishment of nuclear power plant. In a statement released on 30 September 2013, Egyptian Army spokesman Ahmed Mohammed Ali said that the Army is committed to taking the necessary procedures to compensate those affected from the project.[6]
On 7 November 2013 President Adly Mansour announced that the nuclear power program will be restarted.[5] On 14 November 2013, a spokesman for the electricity ministry named Aktham Abouelela stated that the tender to build the reactor will begin in January 2014,[7] though it has been delayed until the end of 2014.[8] The target year for operation is 2019; the plant would be used for 60 years.[9] The plant would function as a light water reactor and would have a capacity of 950 to 1,650 megawatts.[9]
In November 2015 and March 2017 Egypt signed preliminary agreements with Russian nuclear company Rosatom for a first VVER-1200 unit to start in 2024.[10][11][12] In November 2017 preliminary contracts for the construction of four VVER-1200 units were signed in the presence of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.[13]
Climate
editKöppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as hot desert (BWh), but it is highly moderated by its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea along the northern coast of Egypt.
| Climate data for El Dabaa | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 28.6 (83.5) |
30.9 (87.6) |
38.2 (100.8) |
43.2 (109.8) |
47.1 (116.8) |
46.8 (116.2) |
39.0 (102.2) |
41.8 (107.2) |
40.0 (104.0) |
37.7 (99.9) |
32.6 (90.7) |
28.3 (82.9) |
47.1 (116.8) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 17.8 (64.0) |
18.7 (65.7) |
20.4 (68.7) |
23.6 (74.5) |
26 (79) |
28.5 (83.3) |
29.4 (84.9) |
30 (86) |
28.9 (84.0) |
26.7 (80.1) |
23.2 (73.8) |
19.7 (67.5) |
24.4 (75.9) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 12.8 (55.0) |
13.7 (56.7) |
15 (59) |
17.8 (64.0) |
20.6 (69.1) |
23.8 (74.8) |
25.4 (77.7) |
25.8 (78.4) |
24.5 (76.1) |
22 (72) |
18.2 (64.8) |
14.4 (57.9) |
19.5 (67.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 7.8 (46.0) |
8.1 (46.6) |
9.7 (49.5) |
12.1 (53.8) |
14.6 (58.3) |
18.2 (64.8) |
20.7 (69.3) |
21 (70) |
19.5 (67.1) |
16.6 (61.9) |
13 (55) |
9.3 (48.7) |
14.2 (57.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 0.9 (33.6) |
2.8 (37.0) |
3.1 (37.6) |
5.6 (42.1) |
8.4 (47.1) |
11.6 (52.9) |
14.5 (58.1) |
15.6 (60.1) |
13.7 (56.7) |
11.4 (52.5) |
7.4 (45.3) |
1.8 (35.2) |
0.9 (33.6) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 32 (1.3) |
18 (0.7) |
8 (0.3) |
2 (0.1) |
2 (0.1) |
1 (0.0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
1 (0.0) |
12 (0.5) |
15 (0.6) |
28 (1.1) |
119 (4.7) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 3.4 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 2.6 | 11.3 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 67 | 65 | 67 | 64 | 66 | 67 | 69 | 69 | 66 | 65 | 64 | 64 | 66.1 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 200.7 | 205.4 | 255.7 | 279.4 | 317.3 | 356.4 | 374.0 | 354.9 | 313.8 | 274.9 | 228.0 | 205.0 | 3,365.5 |
| Source 1: NOAA[14] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Climate Charts[15] | |||||||||||||
References
edit
- ^ "Cairo prepares El-Dabaa nuclear power site". MEED MEDIA FZ LLC. 10 January 2008. Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ a b Sharon Weinberger (20 January 2012). "Radioactive material stolen in Egypt". Nature. Archived from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ a b "El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant". www.power-technology.com. Archived from the original on 5 May 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ "Construction of Egypt's first nuclear plant to begin in 2021". www.neimagazine.com. 24 August 2020. Archived from the original on 11 March 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ a b "Mansour revives plan for nuclear power plant on Egyptian coast". Ahram Online. 7 November 2013.
- ^ "Egypt: Armed Forces Thank Dabaa Residents". Egypt State Information Service. 1 October 2013.
- ^ "Egypt to seek bids for first nuclear plant". Daily News Egypt. 14 November 2013.
- ^ "Nuclear plant tender to launch by year's end; winning country to finance project: El-Osery". Daily News Egypt. 20 July 2014.
- ^ a b "Ministry plans to put nuclear plant construction to tender". Mada Masr. 15 November 2013.
- ^ Ezzidin, Toqa (29 November 2015). "El-Dabaa nuclear station to generate electricity in 2024: Prime Minister". Daily News. Egypt. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
- ^ "Egypt and Russia agree on two contracts for El Dabaa NPP". Nuclear Engineering International. 20 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
- ^ Farag, Mohamed (14 March 2017). "Russia launches operations of nuclear unit similar to Dabaa units". Daily News. Egypt. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
- ^ "'Notice to proceed' contracts signed for El Dabaa". World Nuclear News. 11 December 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
- ^ "Dabaa Climate Normals 1961–1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ^ "Dabaa, Egypt: Climate, Global Warming, and Daylight Charts and Data". Climate Charts. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
