Egypt has postponed its nuclear power programme until after a new parliament is elected.

The minister of electricity and energy Ahmed Emam said that the future of the country’s nuclear programme was reliant on the approval of the next Egyptian parliament. His comments were made after having attended talks held by the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria.

Depending on the approval, an international tender for the construction of a nuclear plant in Dabaa will be released. The previous government led by President Mohammed Mursi also said it would not tender the project until the completion of parliamentary elections. Mursi was ousted from power on 3 July 2013.

President Hosni Mubarak revived Egypt’s nuclear plans in 2007 with an aim of building four nuclear power stations in Dabaa. The country’s original nuclear programme had been halted 20 years previously following an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in the Ukraine in 1986.