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The UAE has taken huge strides over the last few months towards developing peaceful nuclear energy.
The country is now well on its way to becoming the 40th nation to join the world's elite nuclear club, as the government presses ahead with its ambitious plan to diversify the economy away from its dependence on oil and gas.
A number of significant developments have occurred in the UAE so far this year. In January, a landmark nuclear deal was signed with France in Abu Dhabi.
President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and French President Nicholas Sarkozy signed two agreements on nuclear and military cooperation, besides three memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on intellectual property, transport and education.
The two countries also agreed to set up a high-level joint committee to supervise cooperation in the areas of nuclear power generation, water desalination, basic and applied research, agronomy, earth sciences, medicine and industry.
The UAE is currently involved in related discussions with the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea. The government is also seeking consultations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
On March 23, the UAE announced it would set up an agency to assess and develop a peaceful and "fully transparent" energy programme. The Emirates Nuclear Energy Programme, in accordance with the IAEA, has an initial capital of Dh375 million.
Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan said last month that the move was necessary in order to combat a predicted shortage in natural gas.
A study conducted by the federal government revealed demand for electricity was set to increase to more than double the current annual demand of 15,546 megawatts (MW) of energy.
It was predicted - based on the growth in the economy and infrastructure - that 40,858 MW of energy would be required to meet demand by 2020, reflecting a cumulative annual growth in demand of approximately nine per cent.
Latest studies estimate the UAE still has 100 years worth of oil and around 150 years worth of gas. But the pace of energy consumption is accelerating, and the UAE is already importing gas from Qatar and Iran.
The white paper 'Policy of the United Arab Emirates on the Evaluation and Potential Development of Peaceful Nuclear Energy' acknowledges that fossil fuels and coal could meet the country's energy demands. But it considers their economical and environmental cost too high to rely on them alone.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed a MoU on cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear energy on the sidelines of the GCC summit in Bahrain on April 21.
Shaikh Abdullah said, "The UAE/US MoU represents an excellent example of co-operation that the UAE hopes to forge with responsible nuclear supplier states in the area of peaceful nuclear energy, as the UAE forges ahead with its nuclear programme."
There are currently 30 states that have operational nuclear reactors and another 10 - including the UAE - that are either in the planning stage or in the process of construction. The UAE is the second Arab country (after Egypt) and fourth Middle Eastern country (Iran and Israel being the other two) to embark on such an initiative.
Study: The cost factor
A 2005 OECD comparative study showed that nuclear power had increased its competitiveness over the previous seven years. The principal changes since 1998 were increased nuclear plant capacity factors and rising gas prices.
The study did not factor in any costs for carbon emissions from fossil fuel generators, and focused on over one hundred plants able to come on line 2010-15, including 13 nuclear plants.
Nuclear overnight construction costs ranged from $1000/kW in Czech Republic to $2500/kW in Japan, and averaged $1500/kW. Coal plants were costed at $1000-1500/kW, gas plants $500-1000/kW and wind capacity $1000-1500/kW.
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