Monday, 25 May 2026
World Atomic Week concludes in Moscow with award for Egypt’s energy minister
The World Atomic Week concluded its activities in Moscow, Russia, with the honoring of Dr. Mahmoud Esmat, Egypt’s Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy.
Dr. Esmat was awarded the Medal of Excellence by Rosatom, Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation, for his contributions to enhancing international cooperation in nuclear energy.
Dr. Esmat participated as a speaker in a roundtable discussion titled “Nuclear Energy: From Technological System to a New Global Vision,” chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The session was attended by several heads of state, prime ministers, and ministers participating in the High-Level Nuclear Summit. Dr. Esmat also spoke at the plenary session, praising the significance, ingenuity, and timely decision by Egypt’s political leadership to enter the field of nuclear technology for electricity generation, as part of Egypt’s peaceful nuclear program. His participation extended to the annual BRICS Nuclear Energy Platform conference.
A key highlight on the sidelines of the Global Nuclear Forum was the ceremony marking the transfer of the reactor pressure vessel for the first nuclear unit from the port of St. Petersburg to the Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant site in Egypt.
Dr. Esmat held a regular meeting with Alexey Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom, and Dr. Andrey Petrov, First Deputy Director General of Rosatom and President of Atomstroyexport, the company overseeing the Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant project. The meetings, held over Thursday and Friday, focused on ensuring the project’s progress, adherence to the timeline, and compliance with the set schedules for Egypt’s strategic nuclear power generation project.
During the sessions, Dr. Esmat emphasized the complementary relationship between Egypt’s national energy strategy and the state’s vision to utilize natural resources, particularly new and renewable energy sources.
He highlighted Egypt’s goal to increase the share of renewable energy in the energy mix to over 42% by 2030 and 65% by 2040, in light of global advancements in renewable energy technologies. He noted that nuclear energy adds a new dimension to Egypt’s nuclear project by providing a stable foundation for the grid, enabling the integration of significant solar and wind energy capacities, ensuring the security and stability of the electrical grid, and supporting continuous power supply. This aligns with Egypt’s policy to reduce fossil fuel use and curb carbon emissions.