Gulf Consortium, IAEA Plan March Meetings

The Gulf Cooperation Council expects to begin working with the International Atomic Energy Agency in March to plan a shared nuclear power program for the six Arab nations, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 28).

The consortium — made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — plans to hold meetings and seminars to discuss the project with U.N. nuclear watchdog officials, said Ahmad Khatayba, nuclear projects head for Qatar’s high environmental council.

“We will set out the terms of reference of the studies in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and then go to international expert firms to compile detailed studies featuring implementation plans … that meet the Gulf states’ needs for 30 years,” Khatayba said.

The consortium expects the implementation studies to be complete in 18 months, Khatayba said.  It remains too early to say when the consortium nations would begin constructing their first nuclear power plants, said Khaled bin Ghanem al-Ali, secretary general of the Qatari environmental council.

At a meeting in Qatar earlier this week, representatives from the six nations discussed nuclear power’s feasibility for civilian applications such as electricity production and water desalination.

“GCC states act as sovereign states, not in reaction” to the actions of neighboring states, said Abdullah al-Hashem, GCC assistant secretary general, in an apparent reference to Iran’s controversial nuclear program (Agence France-Presse/Google News, Jan. 29).

Back to top
About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines © Copyright 2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.