UAE to select uranium supplier early next year

Abu Dhabi: The UAE will select a uranium supplier for its $20 billion nuclear energy programme in the first half of next year, Hamad Al Kaabi, the UAE's Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, said here Tuesday.

"Our nuclear policy states that we would favour sending back the spent fuel to the country that supplied it," Al Kaabi said at a conference titled Global Energy Markets: Changes in the Strategic Landscape, organised by the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR).

"If that is not feasible, we would consider storing it in the UAE, in an underground storage facility, for example," he added.

"The policy is based on a transparent approach and commitments to the highest standards of safety, security and non-proliferation. Much progress has been achieved since the enacting of the policy in 2008. Today we have a fully established independent nuclear safety regulator, an operator company, and [an] internationally praised nuclear infrastructure to support the development of the programme," Al Kaabi said.

Around 86 per cent of the UAE population is in fav-our of nuclear power, said Al Kaabi, citing a recent survey that was conducted after the Fukushima disaster in Japan.

Meanwhile, Adnan Amin, Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena), said at the conference that Gulf Cooperation Council countries are likely to spend up to $25 billion towards installing new power generating capacity to meet their burgeoning electricity demand.