Director of Center for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, Boston University, Dr. Farouk El-Baz said that Egypt is not eligible to handle nuclear energy, according to an Arabic governmental website of Alexandria.(link)

He noted that ‘the establishment of a nuclear reactor to generate electricity in the region of Dabaa is a political decision and a deliberate goal to have nuclear power like Iran, which had also prompted other Arab countries to enter the nuclear field.’

Dr. Farouk El-Baz  said that Egypt’s current stage requires the development of solar technology and benefit from it until the strengthening of scientific research and be ‘developed enough to safely handle nuclear power’. He pointed out that the Western Sahara can be exploited to generate solar energy and the Red Sea area is suited to take advantage of wind power.

When asked about the status of Egypt’s Atomic Energy Authority, Dr. Farouk El-Baz  said that it is still intact, yet it lacks expertise  and unlikely to deliver nuclear energy.

However, Dr. Yassin Ibrahim, head of ‘the nuclear plants to produce electricity’, challenged the assessment, according to the news.

He said Dr. Farouk El-Baz didn’t object Egypt’s nuclear ambitions at the US-Egypt workshop that was held last October, though he was a key speaker. The workshop was conducted to prepare Egyptian professionals cadres to run and manage nuclear facility and security, and dealing with qualifications Egypt to enter into the era of electricity production from nuclear.

Dr. Yassin Ibrahim challenged him to provide if he has a new study on an alternative source of energy that Egypt could use instead of nuclear.