Overview
- POLITICO published confidential material that includes a June 4 letter from Egypt’s Nuclear Power Plants Authority alleging concrete voids, foundation and reactor‑building defects, forged access passes, on‑site alcohol, a smuggled injured worker and 'deliberate negligence'.
- Internal Rosatom papers reviewed by POLITICO include a 2025 draft audit that warned of management failures and forecast an 18‑month slip to the schedule for the first El Dabaa reactor unit.
- Rosatom has rejected the allegations, said the claims have not been confirmed through project oversight, and noted that no nuclear fuel has been introduced at El Dabaa.
- Ukraine’s foreign minister publicly urged EU sanctions on Monday in response to the reporting, and Hungary’s new government has opened a review of the Paks II contract that uses the same VVER‑1200 technology.
- The revelations raise wider questions about oversight of Kremlin‑linked nuclear projects, create reputational risk for Rosatom in Europe, and put worker safety and regulatory findings at the center of what regulators and governments will now examine next.