Egypt’s Supreme Council of Energy has decided to put effort into “unconventional means” of creating energy, including development of nuclear energy.
This would be a response to the growing energy needs in Egypt, the council decided on Sunday at a meeting attended by Prime Minister Ahmad Nazif.
This was the first time in several years the council met in the presence of an Egyptian premier.
The council will create a ministerial committee to outline technical and financial ways to put the nuclear alternative into action, the Egyptian Al-Ahram reported.
Energy Minister Hasan Younis supported the initiative, citing increasing safety in this field and the growing life expectancy of nuclear reactors.
The meeting was held days after Gamal Mubarak, a senior member of the ruling National Democratic Party and the son of President Hosni Mubarak, called on his government to pursue nuclear energy.
The call came at a time of heightened tension between Iran and the international community over Iran’s nuclear program, which Western countries fear will be used for military purposes.
But Hala Mustafa, an Egyptian analyst and editor of the Democracy Review, said she did not think the statements were a reaction to the Iranian program but rather a response to the United States regarding its policies in the Middle East.
Also, the nuclear project in Egypt is facing much criticism from the opposition, Mustafa said in an interview with TML’s The International News Hour.
“I think Gamal is trying to gain popularity by promoting this hardline agenda,” she said.