The New York Time has this article providing an overview of why the Arab Gulf States are looking at nuclear power. The article is level-headed, avoiding the hysteria that accompanies much media coverage of the issue. Even more succinct is a 2:40 video clip by David Sanger.

Sitting on major portions of the world’s supplies of petroleum and natural gas, some say, these countries have no ‘real’ need for nuclear power generation, so moves in that direction must be for nefarious purposes. That view overlooks some important issues, though, including ones that also affect the West. First, the oil and gas are in finite supply. They will run out one day. Some, including the ‘peak oil’ theorists, say that day is coming soon. Even if it isn’t, one needn’t wait until the last minute to plan alternatives.

Nuclear power is far less polluting than hydrocarbon based power. While the Gulf’s power generation is all petroleum or natural gas based, inherently cleaner than coal based generation, that is not as clean as nuclear power. Over the past decade, the Gulf States have been paying far more attention to issues of pollution than most realize. Whether a matter of preservation of wildlife, such as the Dugong, a close relation to the Manatee, or maintaining fisheries, as populations swell environmental issues have more and more effects upon them.

Some suggest that solar energy production is a better way to go. It might be. But there is a much longer record of nuclear power success than solar power success. Even at the cost of a billion dollars to construct a single nuclear plant, there is more efficiency to be found there than in today’s available and proven solar technologies.

The Gulf States are massive consumers of electricity. Life in those countries, where summer temperatures can reach 140°F, is made bearable because of air conditioning. Most of the drinking water for Saudi Arabia and the other states comes from desalination plants which use a variety of technologies to remove salt from sea water. Without the water created through desalination, cities like Riyadh would simply collapse. Nuclear power plants are extremely efficient in creating electricity. The need for power is legitimate.

Does this mean that nuclear weaponry isn’t of interest? Probably not. While all of the Arab countries have called for a ‘nuclear-free Middle East’, they are all concerned about Iran’s ambitions, far more than they are about Israel’s existing nukes. They’d like to see all nuclear weapons banned from the region. But until they are, a level of ambiguity about future plans does serve a useful purpose.

Eye on Iran, Rivals Pursuing Nuclear Power
WILLIAM J. BROAD and DAVID E. SANGER

Two years ago, the leaders of Saudi Arabia told international atomic regulators that they could foresee no need for the kingdom to develop nuclear power. Today, they are scrambling to hire atomic contractors, buy nuclear hardware and build support for a regional system of reactors.

So, too, Turkey is preparing for its first atomic plant. And Egypt has announced plans to build one on its Mediterranean coast. In all, roughly a dozen states in the region have recently turned to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna for help in starting their own nuclear programs. While interest in nuclear energy is rising globally, it is unusually strong in the Middle East.

“The rules have changed,” King Abdullah II of Jordan recently told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. “Everybody’s going for nuclear programs.”

The Middle East states say they only want atomic power. Some probably do. But United States government and private analysts say they believe that the rush of activity is also intended to counter the threat of a nuclear Iran.

By nature, the underlying technologies of nuclear power can make electricity or, with more effort, warheads, as nations have demonstrated over the decades by turning ostensibly civilian programs into sources of bomb fuel. Iran’s uneasy neighbors, analysts say, may be positioning themselves to do the same.
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