GCC officials study nuclear plans

  Senior GCC officials and nuclear experts held a meeting in Riyadh yesterday to study a project on the use of nuclear energy and a plan to boost cooperation between the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The two-day meeting also discussed several other topics related to nuclear energy, how to promote alternative sources of energy and energy saving methods, the Saudi daily (Arab News) reported Monday. "The meeting is significant keeping in view the keen desire of the Gulf states to pursue renewable energy and nuclear power projects with an aim to cut dependence on oil," a spokesman of the GCC General Secretariat Ahmed Kabi said. He said that this meeting of the GCC working panel had discussed a proposal to hold a major workshop to be organized and attended by officials and experts from the GCC and the European Union within next two months. This kind of workshop will be significant in the long-run when the Gulf bloc will launch its own nuclear plans and start producing nuclear energy. "This is also the need of the hour to go ahead with nuclear energy plans," said Kabi. In fact, more than 60 percent of all oil production in the GCC will go toward producing electricity by the year 2030, if current demand levels continue to grow at the same pace. Referring to the GCC panel’s meeting, which will eventually map out a plan to promote GCC nuclear energy projects, the spokesman said that there would also be discussions on a paper submitted by the GCC Secretariat during the meeting. The paper deals with a proposal inviting experts in various disciplines to present latest advances in the usage of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. "The meeting will also discuss Russia’s invitation to GCC countries to visit its nuclear facilities in June this year," said a GCC statement. A technical cooperation project between the GCC and the IAEA for 2012 and 2013 will also be reviewed. The meeting will also discuss the energy requirements in the Gulf region because almost all Gulf states expect domestic power demand to triple over the next two decades and want to develop a more sustainable mixture of energy sources. Some of the GCC countries have already inked deals with a few other countries and companies for setting up facilities for producing nuclear energy. At the end of 2008, the GCC authorized nuclear development for its Gulf members. The first among them to launch a civil nuclear program was the United Arab Emirates. It plans to build four nuclear energy plants in its western region, and the first plant is expected to be completed by 2017.