The Gulf Cooperation Council has entered the next stage of its program to develop nuclear power to help it meet soaring energy requirements in the region, GCC Secretary General Abdulrahman Bin Hamad Al Attiyah said Monday.
"We concluded the feasibility study, in collaboration with the IAEA, and it was adopted by the GCC," Attiyah told Zawya Dow Jones in an exclusive interview in Abu Dhabi.
"Now we are in the stage of entering the detailed studies and once these detailed studies are concluded we will start the implementation," he said, adding that the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, was positive about the program and working with the GCC states on implementing it.
The development follows the GCC Supreme Council's decision in December 2006 to launch a program for the peaceful use of nuclear technology in accordance with international criteria and full transparency.
Persian Gulf monarchies including Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E. and Qatar are assessing bringing nuclear technology to the six GCC member states as an alternative to gas and liquid fuels to run their power plants and water desalination facilities.
The GCC is made up of the U.A.E., Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain.
Energy requirements are rising rapidly in Persian Gulf countries driven by governments spending billions of dollars in oil revenues on new industries and infrastructure, and by growing populations.
GCC countries consider nuclear energy to be a potential alternative to traditional hydrocarbon resources, especially gas, which is presently in short supply in the region due to high usage in industries and power plants.
The GCC nuclear energy plan comes amidst rising tensions between Iran and the U.S. and its allies over the Islamic republic's nuclear program.
Iran has been accused of developing atomic weapons in violation of international treaty commitments, a claim the Islamic republic rejects.