This week the Egyptian Government selected Bechtel Corporation to advise on the construction of Egypt's first set of nuclear power plants in a 10-year, $180 million contract. This is good news for Egypt and the United States.
Egypt has a long standing policy that the Middle East should be WMD-free. In a joint press conference with Secretary Rice in February 2006, Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit said, “Egypt's position is clear and it has been clear. We do not accept any nuclear presence or weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East.” This is how Egypt handles the question of Israel's, Iran's, and even Syria's nuclear weapons programs. It's a smart policy, given that in order for Egypt to acquire nuclear weapons it would either have to work with the US (which would violate US policy maintaing Israel's Qualitative Military Edge), a European country (not likely), Russia (which may cause the US to drop its $1.3b in annual military assistance), or some other supplier such as North Korea, Iran (which would isolate Egypt politically).
Egypt's nuclear policy scores points rhetorically and attracts political rewards, like US backing for civilian nuclear power plant. Egypt is a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferaton Treaty of 1981, but refused last year to sign an additional protocol that allows the UN to conduct spot checks of nuclear facilities. Egypt claimed sovereignty issues.
Short of UN spot checks, the US can take heart that an American company will be onsite. Bechtel won out against competitors from Australia, Sweden, Spain, Finland, Argentina, and Belgium. Russia's Vladimir Putin had discussed the deal with Mubarak, but a Russian team does not seem to have bid on the project.
This new billion dollar project also strengthens ties between the American and Egyptian business communities, which is healthy for the state of the US-Egypt relationship.
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