UAE will be 40th nation to join elite nuclear club

Dubai: The UAE is on its way to becoming the 40th country to join the club of states using nuclear energy to meet its energy demands.

The government recently announced its plans to produce nuclear energy locally as an economical and ecologically friendly alternative to fossil fuels in meeting the country's soaring energy needs.

It was revealed in a white paper issued by the government on Sunday that the country's economic, infrastructure and population growth will bring with it a 160 per cent rise in demand for energy by 2020.

The UAE has so far signed agreements of cooperation in the field of peaceful nuclear energy with France and the United States, two of the top nuclear energy producers.

Under the agreement with France, the two countries will set up a high-level joint committee to supervise cooperation in the areas of nuclear power generation. Further details of the two agreements have so far not been revealed.

The UAE is also undertaking high-level consultations with the Germany, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, Japan and South Korea, with regard to drafting a UAE policy document on the evaluation and possible implementation of a peaceful nuclear programme.

Similar direct consultations are also being sought with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

There are currently 30 states that have operational nuclear reactors, and another 10 - now including the UAE, which have proposed, planned are in the process of constructing nuclear reactors. The UAE is the second Arab country and fourth Middle Eastern country to embark on such an initiative.

There are 439 nuclear reactors in the world producing 16 per cent of the world's electricity, almost half of which are in the United States and European Union.

The US has the largest number of reactors in the world, at 104, and France follows with 59 reactors that supply 78 per cent of the country's electricity needs, according to the World Nuclear Association.

France's nuclear energy programme is one that is often cited as the most efficient.

Besides accommodating a majority of the country's electricity needs, the country's reactors produce enough energy to make France the largest net exporter of electricity due to its relatively low cost of production, bringing in approximately 3 billion euros (Dh17.5 billion) in exports annually.

The situation is often attributed to a dramatic change in French energy policy after the oil shock of 1973, when the government decided to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

The first nuclear reactor was set up in the United States in 1951 and a fully operational one started in 1960.

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