Security concerns
Middle Eastern countries are particularly sensitive to criticisms and concerns over proliferation. The sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear program have served as a stern warning that countries looking to harness nuclear energy need to be transparent. The U.A.E. was the first Gulf country to seek nuclear energy, and its diplomats have made loud overtures to safety and security.
At the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C., in April, the Abu Dhabi crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, told the U.S. president, Barack Obama, that the country had a “strong commitment to non-proliferation.”
The U.A.E. appointed a nine-member advisory board to provide the country with expertise in constructing its nuclear program.
How active the board will be in making decisions is unclear, but by asking respected advisors such as the former head of the I.A.E.A., Hans Blix, the U.A.E. is trying to show it is open to international influence.
In a meeting in April in Abu Dhabi, Blix said the Middle East should be and “enrichment and reprocessing-free zone,” and that countries in the region should purchase their nuclear fuel from abroad.
Last month, the U.A.E. government established the Gulf Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Institute in Abu Dhabi as part of its efforts to establish safeguards and security in the country’s civil nuclear energy program.
Speaking at the meeting, the interim president of Khalifa University of Science, Technology, and Research again underscored his country’s concern about nuclear security.
“World-class performance in safety, security and safeguards, as well as non-proliferation are the foundation of a responsible and successful nuclear energy program,” the interim president of Kustar, Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, said.
“We are pleased to be playing a key role in bringing expertise in those fields to the U.A.E., and eventually to region.”
As the region continues to open to nuclear energy programs, it will need reactors as well as expertise. The competition for that business is just beginning.

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