Egypt’s Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA) on Tuesday rejected allegations of critical safety and engineering failures at its El-Dabaa nuclear power plant, calling a Monday Politico report based on leaked official documents “inaccurate and lacking balance.”
The report cited what the outlet described as “confidential documents” it obtained, including a June 4 letter from Egypt’s NPPA to Rosatom executives that pointed to concrete defects and safety violations at the Dabaa site.
Politico said it obtained the documents from an unnamed intelligence official whose nationality it did not disclose.
According to the report, the leaked Egyptian letter cited “the re-emergence of serious concrete defects, including voids behind the metal cladding at Unit 4 [and] defects in the foundation slabs of Units 1, 2 and 3, which took a year to repair.”
The letter also accused the Russian company of resorting to “misleading methods” and “fictitious work” attempting to prove the plant’s construction is over halfway complete, “while a visual inspection at the site clearly shows that the main buildings of the nuclear island are still in the underground construction phase.”
Politico said Rosatom responded by email, denying that any of the allegations had been “confirmed within the contractual, technical and oversight procedures envisaged by the project,” and saying it applies the highest nuclear safety standards. The company, however, declined to say whether it had received the leaked letter or complaints from the NPPA.
The report also said the Egyptian government and its embassies in Belgium and the US, as well as the NPPA, did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the documents before publication.
Egypt’s NPPA issued a statement Monday confirming receiving Politico’s requests for comment, which it then refused.
“Following a careful review of the article, it became clear that it lacked the required balance and objectivity,” the statement read, adding that the report “contained inaccuracies and reflected a biased approach. The NPPA therefore considered that it did not warrant comment or response.”
In its statement, the NPPA rejected what it called the report’s “allegations,” saying that “the identification of individual technical observations and non-conformities during construction, followed by appropriate corrective measures, is a normal part of the implementation process. Such matters are typical of projects of this nature.”
The NPPA, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Electricity, said in its response the day after the Politico report was published that it applies a strict system known as “Non-Conformance Reports.”
It stressed that no construction stage is approved or accepted until technical issues have been addressed and hydraulic and structural testing has been completed under the supervision of the Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority.
Politico’s allegations went beyond technical and engineering problems to include other security and administrative issues. The report said the documents showed workers had been caught with prohibited alcohol, fake permits had been used to enter the site, and photos and videos of the plant had circulated on social media.
The documents also described an incident in which a worker with a “severe open fracture” was smuggled out in a private car, which, according to the leaked NPPA letter, was done “intentionally” to cover up the incident.
Politico also said a draft 2025 internal Rosatom audit indicated that the first reactor could begin operations 18 months late, shifting from September 2028 to March 2030.
The Egyptian authority responded in its statement that strict security rules are in place in cooperation with the relevant agencies to control movement and violations.
It added that the project has repeatedly received praise from the International Atomic Energy Agency and its director general, Rafael Grossi, citing a June 2026 Integrated Regulatory Review Service mission report that said Egypt has a strong regulatory and development framework for nuclear facility safety.
Despite the authority’s detailed statement, its handling of the crisis drew criticism from MP Mohamed Farid, who said its failure to respond to Politico before publication had created “an unnecessary crisis.”
Commenting on the authority’s performance in a Facebook post, Farid wrote, “The NPPA’s statement is a clear example of how bureaucratic lethargy can create an unnecessary crisis because of one decision: not to respond.”
Farid said the authority chose to ignore an email from a Politico reporter seeking comment before publication. “The authority read it, saw that the report was substandard, and decided not to respond. The report was published, translated and picked up by many outlets. Only then did the authority realize it had created a crisis and issue a lengthy statement with all the details that could have been in the report from the start if it had responded on time,” he added.
After Politico’s report, Ukraine called on the European Union to impose sanctions on Rosatom, while Ukranian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X that “Rosatom is not just another energy company—it is an instrument of Russia’s ambition to secure a global monopoly in nuclear energy.”
He said the findings were further evidence that Rosatom “is not a reliable partner” and urged European capitals to resume talks on EU sanctions against it.
