Qatar Steps Up Preparations for Nuclear Program

A group of Qatari experts will meet with representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna next month to set guidelines for a local nuclear plant. reported.

The Qatari newspaper The Penninsula is reporting that the delegation will be made up of members of  the Supreme Council for Environment and Natural Reserves (SCENR), Qatar Petroleum (QP) and Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa).

Dr. Hans-Holger Rogner who is section head of the IAEA’s Planning and Economic Studies Section (PESS) told The Media Line (TML) that most of the countries are still an estimated 10 to 15 years from a having an operational nuclear power plant.

The oil-rich nation might seem an unlikely candidate for breaking its dependence on fossil fuel. But a recent study by Kahramaa foresees a 17 percent annual growth in electricity use and an 11 % growth in the demand for water during the next five years in Qatar in addition to very strong growth in the industrial and commercial sectors.

Rogner offered an alternative explanation to Qatar‘s interest in nuclear energy:  He believes that with oil trading today at such high levels, the economic value of using a barrel of oil for the production of electricity for home use is relatively low. Conversely, that same barrel of oil has a significant market value encouraging its sale. On the national level. Qatar can use the profits from the sale of oil to finance a nuclear power plant.

As we go to press,  the price of a barrel of oil was $115.