Egypt's Nuclear Ambitions

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of 1973, interim President Adly Mansour announced in his speech that he plans to relaunch the building of Egypt's first nuclear power plant in Dabaa, Marsa Matrouh, on the Mediterranean Coast.

The plant's construction began under ousted-president Hosni Mubarak, but was halted because of disputes with local residents, who claim the the state confiscated their land by force without offering compensation.

Dabaa locals reclaimed the construction site in January 2012, destroying the existing infrastructure while refusing to surrender to military police. According to reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency, low radioactive sources were looted from the location.

The contested site was finally relinquished by the local tribes to Egypt armed forces after months of occupying the site. If plans go ahead on the plant, one can only hope that Egypt takes as many precautionary measures as possible. Japan had to learn about the dangers of nuclear power the hard way, and hopefully Egypt will not follow suit. However, considering how often we let infrastructure decay in this country before fixing it, bringing nuclear power to Egypt may just be a ticking time bomb.