Nuclear Deal to Boost UAE's Power, Stature
02/07/2010 - Khaleej TimesThe Arab world's first and largest-ever nuclear power deal will have profound economic and political impact not just on the parties to the contract, UAE and South Korea, but for the whole of the Middle East region, analysts said on Sunday.
The deal makes UAE the first Arab nation to have access to civil nuclear power and technology, the first among major oil exporters to actually diversify its source of power generation away from fossil fuel and the first GCC state to have the capability to export nuclear-generated electricity through the GCC power grid.
For South Korea, the deal marks its first commercial export of nuclear technology, in its 30-year history of nuclear power generation, making it the newest member of the nuclear exporters’ club long dominated by France, Japan, the US and Russia.
The Korean bid was a surprise for many observers who early in the bidding process had expected a two-horse race between a French consortium including Areva, GdF Suez SA, Electricité de France and Total SA and a US-Japanese consortium including General Electric Co. and Hitachi Ltd. But the bid from the unexpected contender, led by Korea Electric Power Co., construction units of the Samsung and Hyundai groups, and Westinghouse, a unit of Japan’s Toshiba Corp, emerged as the “best equiped to fulfill the (UAE) government’s partnership requirements in this ambitious programme,” according to Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, or ENEC.
The UAE needs nuclear power to help meet an expected rise in electricity demand, likely to be around 40,000 megawatt (MW) in 2020 from around 15,000 MW last year. The world’s third-largest oil exporter doesn’t have enough of cleaner-burning natural gas, so government planners identified nuclear energy as the preferred choice.
The UAE contract is unusual by industry standards because the country has no nuclear experience. As a result, it sought not only the equipment necessary to build its first nuclear reactor, but also an operator to run the plant. This differs from the typical pattern, in which nuclear-engineering firms supply reactors to established power companies, who know how to operate them. That also meant that UAE was looking for a longer-term politics-free relationship which must have gone in favour of Korea.
“The average operational span of nuclear reactors is 20-25 years. It is not only the cost of establishing but maintaining and upgrading the reactor. So it (UAE) probably did not want to enter into a relationship on this front with a partner with a strong political dimension,” said Dr Mustafa Alani, Director Security and Terrorism Studies, at the Gulf Research Centre in Dubai. “South Korea is the least political in comparison to US and even France.”
The UAE sees its nuclear policy, published in a white paper in April 2008, as establishing a new model through which non-nuclear states may explore and potentially deploy nuclear energy with the full support and confidence of the international community. The UAE won’t enrich its own uranium for reactor fuel, due to political and security concerns, but instead will buy it from third parties under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The US cited the UAE policy as an example of peaceful development of nuclear-generated power. That should make the UAE nuclear programme a model for how other Middle East countries can develop nuclear power, sparking a race for atomic energy resources to meet surging electricity demand.
Dr Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, Professor of Political Science at the United Emirates University, termed UAE’s nuclear programme as a significant development in the Arab World, something that will boost UAE’s stature as a leader of the region.
“From all indications, the UAE nuclear programme is probably the most serious in the Arab World,” he said. “It will set a standard for others to follow. This is going to add more areas of strength to the UAE as a regional power. Some will take it more critically than others and doubters will always be there.”
Timeline: UAE nuclear development
The UAE sees its nuclear policy, published in a white paper in April 2008, as establishing a new model through which non-nuclear states may explore and potentially deploy nuclear energy with the full support and confidence of the international community.
The UAE won’t enrich its own uranium for reactor fuel, due to political and security concerns, but instead will buy it from third parties under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The US cited the UAE policy as an example of peaceful development of nuclear-generated power. That should make the UAE nuclear programme a model for how other Middle East countries can develop nuclear power, sparking a race for atomic energy resources to meet surging electricity demand.
- 1995 Signs International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
- 2003 Signs IAEA agreement on nuclear safeguards.
- 2003 Signs IAEA convention on physical protection of nuclear material.
- 2006 Six members of Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) commission study on peaceful use of nuclear energy.
- 2007 GCC agrees with IAEA to cooperate on feasibility study for a regional nuclear power and desalination plan.
- 2008 Publishes white paper on nuclear energy. Brings in international nuclear experts to start work to establish main nuclear bodies, the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) and Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC).
- 2009, July Bids received from 3 consortia shortlisted for contract to build a fleet of reactors.
- Oct 4 UAE approves federal legislation establishing FANR.
- Dec 16 US-UAE nuclear cooperation deal comes into force. Government-to government deals.
- Dec 23 Abu Dhabi announces formation of ENEC.
- Dec 27 ENEC selects Korean consortium to build first fleet of four nuclear reactors.
- 2012 Plans to begin construction of first reactor.
- 2017 First reactor due to start supplying power to the national grid.
- 2020 All four reactors in first fleet due for completion.
- Beyond 2020 UAE expects to order more reactors to help meet its power demand.