Egyptian engineers have started dismantling equipment and machinery at a nuclear power plant construction site after looters damaged parts of the station, the Al-Masry Al-Youm daily reported.
Engineers from Cairo arrived in the north coast city of Dabaa and removed the equipment from the site, which has sparked environmental protests.
A standoff between the army and residents who oppose the plant has continued for weeks.
Supporters of the now defunct National Democratic Party, which invested heavily in the area, are believed to be driving the protests.
Ousted President Hosni Mubarak selected Dabaa as the location for Egypt's first nuclear power plant last August.
In March 2008 Egypt and Russia agreed to cooperate in the use of nuclear power for peaceful purposes.
The document that was signed during Mubarak’s visit to Moscow enables Russian companies to participate in future tenders for the construction of nuclear power plants in Egypt.
Russia’s Rosatom nuclear corporation has announced plans to participate in a tender for the construction of the Dabaa NPP.
