Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Energy Mohammad Shaker asserted that Egypt has decided since 2007 to establish four nuclear stations in the coastal Dhabaa area, but the Fukushima nuclear accident and the revolutions over the past three years delayed Egypt's nuclear plans.
Interviewed by MENA on the fringe of his participation in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s General Conference here, Shaker said the usage of natural gas as a primary fuel for power generation was not a right policy and it caused problems and shortage in the production. The minister said it is better to diversify the sources of fuel used to produce electricity.
On the use of coal in the generation of electricity, the minister noted that the use of coal is safe as long as it is used in accordance to international standards for health and environment safety, adding that 40 percent of the electricity production in the world depends on stations operated by coal.
He asserted that the ministry is currently working on upgrading the power stations in order to contribute to the gradual settling of the power outage crisis.
Source: MENA