Manama: A Gulf emergency plan to tackle nuclear leaks in the region is ready and will be implemented in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will this week hold a meeting in Vienna and will discuss the emergency plan that will deal with nuclear leaks in the Gulf or elsewhere,” Mohammad Mubarak Bin Daina, vice chief executive of the Supreme Council for Environment in Bahrain, said in remarks published in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
“Concerns about nuclear radiation in some incidents such as in the Fukushima nuclear plant have pushed the GCC countries, keen on the physical well-being of their citizens, to draw up emergency plans in case there are dangerous radiation levels from leaks,” he said.
In April, GCC officials said that the International Atomic Energy Agency should send international inspectors to Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant after an earthquake struck the area and prompted grave Gulf concerns over possible radiation leaks.
The inspectors should inspect the plant and report on possible damage from the 6.1 magnitude quake, the GCC said.
The GCC countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have regularly called for a close monitoring of the nuclear situation in neighbouring Iran, expressing concern about possible hazards and dangers.
