UAE keen to generate nuclear energy
25 Mar 2008
After building the most luxurious hotels and tallest skyscrapers with the help of billions of petrodollars, Dubai is now looking towards an alternative to its gas reserves for its future energy needs - nuclear power.
The requirement for nuclear energy may seem a little contradictory in a land with abundant fossil fuel reserves as the United Arab Emirates, but new studies have indicated that the use of nuclear energy represents a competitive option commercially and environmentally for power generation, as well as providing a viable alternative as and when mineral reserves run out.
The cabinet has approved a memo on the possible development of a nuclear energy programme for peaceful uses that will be evaluated and developed in line with the recommendations of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the global nuclear watchdog.
In order to assuage fears of unsupervised development, the emirate's foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan said that the complete details would soon be published.
The first step that the emirate proposes is the establishment of a nuclear energy authority with an initial capital of Dh375 million to evaluate and develop a peaceful nuclear energy programme in line with the recommendations of the IAEA.
