Holy moly! Another nuclear power coming up in the Gulf! Oil-rich United Arab Emirates says it has no choice because it is facing a shortfall in electricity and likely to run short of natural gas.
So says Abu Dhabi's first English language newspaper, The National,
launched four days ago. With former Daily Telegraph editor Martin
Newland as its editor-in-chief and staffed by journalists from The
Daily Telegraph, Wall Street Journal and the New Yorker, the National
aims to be the Wall Street Journal of the Gulf, reports Bloomberg.
But
first and foremost it is a government newspaper. It is part of the Abu
Dhabi Media Company which is wholly owned by the Abu Dhabi government
and funded by the world's largest sovereign wealth fund.
The National reports today::
The UAE will become the first Arab nation to develop nuclear power, the Government announced today, as it unveiled a policy aimed at securing global backing for the multi-billion dollar programme which is in the final stage of evaluation.
In stark contrast to the strategy pursued in Iran, which is seeking to enrich uranium that could also be used for atomic weapons, the Government’s programme will deliberately avoid any threat of proliferation by importing the fuel and set a new global benchmark for atomic transparency.
“Nuclear energy represents a commercially competitive and environmentally friendly option for the secure generation of electricity in the UAE, particularly in the light of projected future shortages of natural gas,” Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement.
The country is facing a big shortfall in electricity over the next decade because demand is rising by up to 15 per cent a year and supplies of natural gas are expected to run short.
The Globe and Mail has a story on the National, too, headlined: New Abu Dhabi newspaper aims to create fully free press. Bloomberg doesn't say so, though. It will be interesting to read the National's opinion, review and arts and life pages with so many Western journalists involved in an Arab government newspaper. Other Arab media have their share too. But this one is new.
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