Obama approves US-UAE nuke deal

US President Barack Obama has approved plans for the United States to help the United Arab Emirates become the first Arab nation with a nuclear power industry that will fuel the country's growing demand for electricity.


Obama's official backing of the pact, known as a 123 agreement, is being praised by pro-business groups that say US companies are now in the running for major construction work connected to the $41 billion project.

Supporting the UAE's use of nuclear power for peaceful purposes is intended to be a counterweight to Iran's pursuit of atomic weapons. Obama, as did his predecessor, George W. Bush, sees the UAE programme as a positive example for other countries, especially in the volatile Middle East.

* Read XPRESS coverage on UAE nuclear plans

Under the pact, the UAE must import, rather than produce, fuel to be used in its nuclear reactors. It also has committed not to enrich uranium or reprocess spent nuclear fuel for plutonium, which is used in nuclear bombs.

The agreement creates the legal framework for the United States to transfer sensitive nuclear items to the UAE. The pact was actually signed in January by the departing Bush administration, which left the final decision to Obama.

“By moving this agreement forward, the president is creating the potential for thousands of new jobs for American workers,'' said Danny Sebright, president of the US-UAE Business Council.

The UAE is expected to begin choosing construction companies this year for reactor work. Firms from Japan, France and Russia also are expected to compete.
“I think the UAE very much wants the US under the tent,'' Sebright said.

Plant to be up by 2015

DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates would have its first nuclear power plant ready in 2015, an official from the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Thursday.

"They are on a fast track to developing the plant, and we have been giving technical advice and so far they have been responsive," Ali Boussaha, a director at the IAEA, told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Dubai.

"UAE will have a nuclear energy plant in 2015." (Reporting by Amena Bakr; Writing by Luke Pachymuthu, Editing by Inal Ersan)