Gulf states for peaceful use of nuke energy

Gulf states seek to exploit the advantages of nuclear energy in the pursuit of peaceful projects, a Kuwaiti specialist said here yesterday.

Such projects are those useful in the generation of electric power and in the production of oil and gas, said Nader al-Awadhi, vice-president of the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR).

Other applications for nuclear energy, he noted, were also of great benefit in the fields of agriculture, especially in livestock production, and water and in fighting diseases such as cancer and heart ailments.

Asked about the current extent of cooperation between the IAEA and Gulf states, al-Awadhi said it involved three areas. One being preparatory plans for the use of nuclear energy; another formulating legislature affecting the proper utilization of nuclear energy, and still another establishing effective programs to train Gulf citizens on harnessing the immense uses of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

Al-Awadhi, who acts as Kuwait's liaison with the IAEA, indicated that he had attended in Vienna a workshop last week -- sponsored by the IAEA -- for experts in nuclear energy from Asia, Arab and Gulf countries, aimed at chalking up a framework for nuclear cooperation among IAEA members for the upcoming ten-year period.

The workshop, he maintained, was useful for states like those of the Gulf region, with a modicum of knowledge in nuclear energy, to rub shoulders with much more experienced ones like Japan, India, and North Korea. To drive home what was learned in the workshop the IAEA is organizing another one in May, he said.

loading...