UAE n-power plant in operation by 2015

The United Arab Emirates has told the International Atomic Energy Agency it plans to have its first nuclear power plant ready in 2015, an IAEA official said yesterday, although the body believes this is optimistic.

“The UAE government told us that the plant would be ready and generating power by 2015,” Ali Boussaha, a director at the IAEA, said on the sidelines of a conference in Dubai.

“I think this is optimistic because it generally takes 10-15 years to get people trained and infrastructure in place.”

The Gulf Arab state was on a fast-track plan to develop nuclear power and was taking technical advice from the IAEA, Boussaha said. The start-up date was also ahead of latest industry estimates, which pegged the earliest date to set up such a plant in the UAE at 2017.

US President Barack Obama approved on Wednesday a nuclear energy deal with the UAE worth potentially billions of dollars to US energy companies.

“This will allow the UAE to develop its civilian nuclear programme to the highest standards of safety, security and non-proliferation,” UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan was quoted as saying yesterday by state news agency WAM.

“This agreement will also open opportunities for US firms to be active participants in the UAE nuclear energy programme.”

The administration of former President George W Bush signed the pact with the wealthy Gulf state just days before leaving office in January.

WAM said UAE signed a protocol with the IAEA in April establishing a procedure for inspections of nuclear facilities.

The UAE, the world’s third-largest oil exporter, is planning to build a number of nuclear reactors to meet an expected need for an extra 40,000 megawatts of electricity by 2017.

US nuclear reactor builders, GE and Westinghouse Electric Co, a subsidiary of Toshiba Corp, stand to get a big share of the expected $40bn market if Congress approves the deal.

Source: The Peninsula