DOHA, Qatar (AP) _ The head of Britain’s atomic energy agency said Monday the wealthy Gulf Arab countries could lead a renaissance of nuclear power because they can afford to build plants without the opposition that often stymies their construction.
Lady Barbara Thomas Judge, chairman of the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority, said nuclear energy’s relevance was rising in a world beset by global warming and shrinking oil supplies _ even among countries with the largest reserves.
“Why should you talk about nuclear energy in a place where oil and gas flows like milk and honey? The answer is security of supply and the problem of climate change,” Judge said during Forbes magazine’s CEO Middle East forum in Doha.
She said the Gulf region is a perfect place to develop nuclear energy because it lacks the environmental groups that often oppose it.
“In the Gulf, we have the discretion to build what we want,” Judge said.
The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council is expected to open talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria, this month about the feasibility of building nuclear plants. The GCC, which unites Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, wants to use nuclear power in the energy-intensive desalination process.
The United States and some of its allies accuse Iran of seeking nuclear weapons. Iran denies the accusation, saying its program is for energy purposes, but the Persian country has repeatedly defied U.N. Security Council demands that it roll back its program and suspend enrichment.
The Arab nuclear energy move has already won approval from the Bush administration. U.S. officials have said America would help its Gulf allies develop civilian nuclear power as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming. Russian President Vladimir Putin made a similar offer in Saudi Arabia this month. “The genie is out of the bottle,” Judge said. “If they wanted to build it, this would be the place.”
Other major oil exporters are considering nuclear power, including Venezuela and Nigeria. The move makes sense for oil producers who can earn more revenues by exporting oil than using it at home, Judge said.
Several new plants are under construction in China and India, where energy demand is skyrocketing. France, which gets 80 percent of its energy from its 59 nuclear power plants, is a chief source of civilian technology, she said.
Nuclear plants are becoming simpler to build and modular in design, which allows them to be smaller and constructed more quickly.