After oil, UAE is now welcomed to the nuclear family

With the announcement that the Government and nuclear authorities have chosen the South Korean consortium led by Kepco to build and operate the UAE's nuclear programme, this nation has fully entered the nuclear age, reported a local daily.

The Abu Dhabi-based English language newspaper "The National" in its report titled "After oil, now welcome to the nuclear family" has said that Fifty years after oil was first found in Abu Dhabi, profoundly changing its economy and placing it firmly on the world map, we are about to go through another transformation. For those accustomed to seeing this country solely as a traditional oil producer, this may not yet have registered; but it is impossible to overstate the significance and implications of the decision to go nuclear, a decision now implemented with the choice of a nuclear operator.

"The UAE has set itself ambitious development goals. It wants to diversify its economy, make better use of its oil wealth, embrace new technologies, become an industrial powerhouse, attract tourists and investors, maintain its status as the region's transportation and logistical hub, and train the region's best manpower. This means economic expansion in parallel with demographic growth, two phenomena that require careful government intervention, from planning and management to oversight; already the population has increased by 75 per cent between 1995 and 2005, and GDP has more than tripled in the past 15 years", it said.

"Crucially, such a vision depends on modern and efficient infrastructure, notably a reliable and cost-effective supply of energy to power homes, industry and the desalination plants that produce 98 per cent of our water. Energy production must double by 2020 to meet demand. So far, the UAE has mostly relied on gas- and coal-fired electrical plants, but there is now a need for innovative solutions; a diversified energy base is an essential component of energy security", it added.