| Summary: | Several Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries have, over the past decades, declared an interest in nuclear power, although aside from some limited R&D; programmes based on research reactors in a few Arab countries (Egypt, Algeria, and Libya, for example) and Iran, until recently no MENA state has committed to a concrete nuclear power programme. This changed in the new millennium, with the UAE’s firm nuclear programme that will add 20 MW of nuclear power by 2020, turning it into the first Arab country to produce nuclear power for domestic use. Other regional neighbours, such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and Kuwait have been announcing plans for similar programmes. This article summarizes the rationale for nuclear power in both the GCC and MENA countries, before reviewing economic competitiveness in the regional context, the requirements for infrastructure and regulation, and the status of regional programmes.
|
|---|