Egypt Accuses Russian Nuclear Giant Rosatom of Gross Negligence

Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom is facing mounting allegations of severe safety violations, structural defects, and management negligence, according to leaked internal documents from a flagship reactor development in Egypt.

The confidential records, obtained by Politico, expose compounding engineering and workplace safety failures at the four-reactor El Dabaa installation, which uses the same Russian design as the Paks II expansion in Hungary.

Structural Flaws

In a formal letter sent to Rosatom executive leadership, Egypt’s Nuclear Power Plants Authority identified widespread technical deficiencies across uncompleted units.

The correspondence cited recurring structural vulnerabilities in key civil engineering works.

“There has been a re-emergence of serious concrete defects, including voids behind the metal cladding at Unit 4, defects in the foundation slabs of Units 1, 2 and 3, which took a year to repair, and defects in the cellular structure in the cylindrical wall of the reactor building at Unit 4,” details the letter.

Egyptian authorities further alleged that the Russian contractor engaged in fictitious reporting to fabricate progress benchmarks, claiming over 50 percent completion even as primary nuclear island structures remained in the subterranean development phase.

Security Breaches

The internal files also document systemic workplace violations, including security perimeter failures, forged credentials, and unauthorized media distributed on social channels.

The Egyptian agency detailed a severe workplace incident in which an injured laborer with an open fracture was deliberately transported in a private vehicle rather than an ambulance to suppress safety reporting.

“Such behavior represents a serious disregard for both human well-being and professional responsibility, and constitutes a gross violation of workplace safety regulations, nuclear safety culture and reporting obligations,” the letter stated.

Internal Rosatom audit assessments from 2025 corroborated widespread execution problems, flagging a high probability of contractual default and projecting an 18-month delay on the initial unit, shifting delivery from late 2028 to early 2030.

Corporate Rebuttal

Rosatom rejected the findings, maintaining that project execution complies with strict international benchmarks and has received ongoing oversight from the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“The high standard of work organization, the quality management system and the safety culture are affirmed by the sustained attention paid to the project by the political leadership of the Russian Federation and the Arab Republic of Egypt, as well as by the leadership of the International Atomic Energy Agency, whose representatives regularly attend key project milestones,” the company said.

The emerging safety accusations arrive as Rosatom pursues reactor builds across Türkiye and China, as well as nuclear fuel agreements in Germany.

The revelations also increase pressure on Hungary's newly elected government, which has initiated a formal review of the Moscow-backed Paks II project amid broader Western security scrutiny.