Installation begins on first Dabaa unit’s pressuriser

Egypt’s Nuclear Power Plants Authority has begun installing the pressuriser for the primary circuit of the first reactor unit at the Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant. The work is taking place inside the reactor building and was announced as a further construction milestone for the project.

The authority said the start of the installation followed completion of work to install the unit’s four steam generators. Both are major equipment developments cited for the first unit. The pressuriser is being fitted as part of the reactor’s primary circuit, the system that contains the coolant associated with the reactor core.

A pressuriser has a specific role in that circuit. The authority describes it as one of the main components of the reactor’s primary circuit. It regulates and maintains coolant pressure within the operating limits set for the system. The authority said the component also helps to limit pressure fluctuations under different operating conditions. It operates alongside the plant’s protection, control and nuclear-safety systems, which are intended to support stable operation and safeguard the integrity of primary-circuit components.

The scale of the equipment underlines why its installation is a notable stage of the build. The pressuriser weighs about 200 tonnes, the authority said. It also put the operating pressure of the primary circuit at around 161 bar. Those figures relate to the component and circuit described for the first unit; they are not a statement that the reactor is operating.

The announcement was made during Egypt Forum 2026. Sherif Helmy, chairman of the Nuclear Power Plants Authority, said the work highlighted progress in installing the project’s main components. He linked the development to Egypt’s aims of strengthening energy security, broadening electricity sources and pursuing sustainable development.

The authority said successive installations of large equipment were being carried out with technical specifications, quality requirements and nuclear-safety standards in view. Its update describes the beginning of installation of this one component, following the earlier steam-generator work. It does not set out a new timetable for the first unit or announce the start of electricity generation.

The Dabaa plant is being built in co-operation with Atomstroyexport. It is planned to comprise four VVER-1200 nuclear units, each with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts, for a total installed capacity of 4,800 megawatts. The newly reported work concerns the first of those units.

For the construction programme, the sequence matters because the pressuriser forms part of the primary circuit alongside the main equipment already being installed. The authority characterised the step as continued progress on the project rather than a completed operational phase. Its significance therefore lies in the physical installation work now under way at Unit 1 and in the further assembly of the reactor’s core systems.

The update also places the technical milestone in the wider context of a four-unit project. The first-unit pressuriser is a single, heavy component with a defined pressure-control role, while the plant is designed around four reactors of the same VVER-1200 type. The present announcement is confined to the start of installation at the first reactor building.