The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is considering building a second nuclear power plant as it seeks to meet the country’s growing demand for electricity, Reuters reports.
The deliberations come as the UAE expects electricity use to grow significantly in the coming years due to the country’s growing population and investment in the industrial sector.
“The government is considering this option. No final decision has been made regarding the bidding process but I can say that the government is actively considering this option,” Hamad Al-Kabi, the UAE’s ambassador to Austria and permanent representative to the UN nuclear agency, told Reuters.
The UAE was the first Arab country in the Arab world to open a nuclear power plant to the public. The Barakah Nuclear Power Plant, built by a South Korean company, was opened in 2020. In March 2024, the UAE unveiled the plant’s fourth and final reactor.
Al-Kabi told Reuters that Abu Dhabi had not allocated a budget or agreed details for the second plant, but a bidding process could begin as soon as 2024. He said the second plant would consist of between two and four reactors.
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If the UAE pursues a second factory, it could spark a competition between China, Russia and the United States to build the complex. The UAE is a close military partner of the United States but has also attracted Russians to live and do business there to evade Western sanctions. The UAE is also growing closer to Beijing.
The United States has been pushing the UAE to crack down on what it sees as Russian sanctions evasion, while the Biden administration has simultaneously pressed the UAE to halt construction of a Chinese port project near Abu Dhabi over suspected potential military purposes.
Any moves by the UAE to expand its civilian nuclear capabilities will be closely monitored by countries in the region.
Saudi Arabia is seeking American technology and assistance to build its own nuclear power plant as part of negotiations with the US to normalize ties with Israel. Riyadh has previously considered bids from countries including China, Russia and France to build the plant, according to the Financial Times.
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The United States hopes it can wean Saudi Arabia away from China, but Riyadh and Washington are at odds over Saudi Arabia’s demand for no limits on uranium enrichment.
Washington has balked at Saudi Arabia’s demand for no limits on its uranium enrichment.
In 2009, the UAE signed the 123 Agreement with Washington, banning it from enriching and selling uranium to countries that cooperate with the United States.
The UAE has long maintained its nuclear programme is peaceful and that it buys fuel for its reactors from abroad to avoid enriching uranium.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman expressed concern in an interview last year, saying his country does not seek nuclear weapons but would consider doing so if Iran asked. Iran has accelerated its enrichment program, and experts say it could produce enough fuel for several nuclear bombs in just a few weeks if it decided to do so.
“if [Iran] “If Russia gets nuclear weapons, we have to get them too – for security reasons, for the balance of power in the Middle East. But we don’t want that,” the crown prince said in September.