The United Arab Emirates said it inked an agreement with Russia Monday to enhance cooperation between the two countries in the development and use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes, after the Gulf state was given the go-ahead earlier this year for construction of two nuclear power units, the first in a string of civilian power plants planned in the strategically sensitive Persian Gulf region
The United Arab Emirates said it inked an agreement with Russia Monday
to enhance cooperation between the two countries in the development and use of
atomic energy for peaceful purposes, after the Gulf state was given the
go-ahead earlier this year for construction of two nuclear power units, the
first in a string of civilian power plants planned in the strategically
sensitive Persian Gulf region.
The deal sets out a legal framework that allows the transfer of information,
technology, equipment and nuclear material between
Abu
Dhabi
and
Moscow
,
according to an emailed joint statement.
It would facilitate further cooperation between the nuclear industries of both
countries, it said.
The U.A.E. faces soaring demand for electricity as its economy expands and it
is hoped that nuclear energy will eventually help it meet 25% of its power
consumption.
Earlier this year, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp. said it had secured a
construction license for two South Korea-designed advanced pressurized water reactors,
each capable of producing 1,400 megawatts of electricity. The state company,
which develops nuclear power plants in the U.A.E., has already started
construction of the first unit in Barakah, in western
Abu
Dhabi
, and is expected to start building its second
reactor next year.
The U.A.E. is investing billions of dollars in developing alternate sources of
energy as part of plans to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons. Its
planned nuclear reactors are set to be the first in a string of civilian power
plants in the
Persian Gulf
region, where other
countries, including
Egypt
and
Saudi
Arabia
, have also declared in recent
years their intent to pursue nuclear energy.
Unlike neighboring
Iran
, the
U.A.E. is committed to not enriching uranium itself or to re-processing spent
fuel.
Hamad al-Kaabi, the Gulf state's national representative to the International
Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, has previously said
that the oil producer hasn't yet finalized a strategy for managing spent fuel
from the reactors, but a national waste strategy document is in advanced stages
of negotiation.
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