New Build

In December 2009, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) awarded an $18.6 billion contract to Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) to build four nuclear power plants in Abu Dhabi. The plants will each have a capacity of 1,400 megawatts and will help to meet increased energy demand in the region. Jack Craze asks: do these nuclear developments compromise or complement the UAE’s equally ambitious plans for solar and renewable energy?

By Jack Craze

For a country rich in fossil fuels, it could seem strange that the UAE is pushing ahead with its first ever domestic nuclear energy programme.

Some might say this is an unnecessary and unnecessarily costly investment, given that the region contains some of the largest reserves of oil and gas on the planet.

Not so, says Mr Alani, Director of Security at the Gulf Research Centre in Dubai.

As Mr Alani told the Nuclear Energy Insider, diversifying into nuclear and renewable energy is critical to meeting the UAE’s future energy needs:

“We’re pursuing nuclear and renewables because we don’t want to become too reliant on one source of energy,” he said.  

“Of course, we’ve got oil; but oil has to contribute to our economy through the international markets – we can’t just use it for domestic energy supply.”

Every barrel of oil the UAE burns at home represents a significant loss in sales overseas, and there is clearly sound financial thinking behind the UAE’s expansion into nuclear.

But there are other issues at work, too. 

Natural gas, for one, is not as plentiful as it once was, with much of it having already been exported or used to power various industries.

“What’s more”, says Mr Alani, “We’re surrounded by nuclearised nations.

“There’s a technology gap for us here in the UAE, and we want to fill it.”

Foreign expertise

In order to realise its nuclear ambitions, the UAE has struck a deal with a consortium of South Korean firms led by KEPCO.

The project is to be completed in three phases between 2017, when the first reactor will begin production, and 2020, with cost estimates running from $20 to $40bn.

In April, the recently formed Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) selected its first reactor site in Abu Dhabi near the Saudi border and, according to Mr Alani, “site testing has already commenced and work is underway on the ground.”

The deal has also been strengthened by a recent cooperation agreement between the UAE and Russia to work “on various aspects” of nuclear power in the area.

With the Russians lending further expertise and support, both to reactor research and to the Korean construction projects, Emirates Foreign Minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, announced that “by 2030 we plan to generate as much nuclear power so as to meet one-third of our energy consumption.”

As a spokesperson for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) remarked, these developments are part of a “trend in the Middle East of signing large bilateral agreements with other countries to get their help and advice” in domestic nuclear development.  

A trend that will also see top high-school students from the UAE take part in a new exchange programme with South Korea to help develop a national nuclear skills base.

Dual developments

Concurrent with the UAE’s nuclear programme, there has also been a major drive in renewable energy.

In February 2008, Abu Dhabi announced plans for a futuristic, environmentally-friendly project called ‘Masdar.’ Costing around $22bn, Masdar includes the construction of a zero-carbon, zero-waste city powered entirely by renewable energy.

Once finished, Masdar City will be home to 50,000 residents who will dedicate themselves to the research and application of renewable and sustainable technologies, with one key goal being to “make hydrogen power commercially viable”.

Then, in 2009, it was announced that Abu Dhabi would be the secretariat headquarter city for the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). When the KEPCO nuclear deal was struck five months later, some commentators predicted a potential conflict of interests.

As one article put it, the UAE’s nuclear developments were seen as “the antithesis of the Masdar project‘s ideals and a betrayal of IRENA’s principles”, with concerns voiced about a diversion of funds away from the renewable programme.

At the Gulf Research Centre, however, Mr Alani is perplexed by such claims.

“The only objection to our nuclear programme that I’m aware of has come from Iran”, he said. “Our nuclear plans have huge public support here – remarkable support.

“ As for our renewable energy projects, they’re advancing on the same trajectory as nuclear. The plans were conceived simultaneously and there’s been enormous and equal investment in both areas.

“We have a very clear picture of how we will explore both options.”

Site security

There has also been meticulous planning around the future safety and security of the nuclear plants. In the last few months, details have emerged of a massive security cordon that will protect the facilities.

Each of the Abu Dhabi sites will be allocated 160 troops on land. At sea security ships and personnel will ensure a 1.2-kilometre ‘protective bubble’ around the reactors, while nearly a million cubic metres of concrete will be used to protect against terrorist air assaults.

 Maj Mohamed al Shamsi, manager of the security and nuclear power protection department at the Critical National Infrastructure Authority (CNIA), says the UAE’s has left “nothing to chance” in their nuclear security preparations.

As well as reassuring the general public about the future security and viability of the nuclear plants, these measures, and the wider planning process, have also impressed foreign observers.

As David Miliband, former UK Foreign Secretary, remarked:

“...the way in which countries like the UAE have pursued their own civilian nuclear power programme with the utmost transparency, the utmost determination to meet the highest standards of safety and security, and the utmost determination to work with international bodies, is a very, very important signal of the way things should proceed in the future.”

Image: Mr Alani from the Gulf Research Centre in Dubai