Saudi, Gulf States to study using nuclear technology

Saudi Arabia and five other Gulf Arab monarchies, which pump a fifth of the world's oil, said they will study using nuclear technology for power generation, a possible forerunner of an atomic weapons program.

"Nuclear technology is an important technology to have for generating power, and the Gulf nations will need it," Saud al- Faisal, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, said at a press conference in Riyadh after a summit by Gulf heads of state.

The six Gulf Cooperation Council countries will set up a commission to study the applications of nuclear technology, according to the summit. It didn't specify a development timetable.

The initiative comes as the United Nations Security Council pressures Iran to stop the production of enriched uranium. The Islamic republic's atomic energy program has spurred concerns about the potential for nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.

"It is a question of the Iranian program. You need to build the know-how, and know-how always starts with a civilian program," Mustafa Alani, director of national security at the Gulf Research Centre in Dubai, said in a telephone interview.

"The Egyptians are also going for this. There is a general move in the Arab countries to agree to build a civilian program and build the knowledge," he said.

The U.S. and European Union accuse Iran, which has the world's second-biggest oil and natural-gas reserves, of seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says its atomic program is aimed at generating electricity.

The Gulf Arab plan "isn't a threat," Saudi foreign minister al-Faisal said at the press conference, which was carried live on Arabic television channels. "We aren't doing it secretly. We want no bomb. Our policy is to have our region free from weapons of mass destruction."

He urged Israel to abandon its nuclear program, saying it was the "original sin that allowed for proliferation" in the region. Israel has never confirmed that it possesses a nuclear weapons program.

Mark Regev, an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, declined to comment on the announcement. Hossein Entezami, a spokesman for Iran's National Security Council, wasn't immediately available for comment.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Joanne Moore said she had no comment on the initiative. The White House press office didn't immediately respond to a request for a response.

"There will be opposition from the U.S. and the Europeans because they will say oil-rich Gulf states don't need nuclear power," Anthony Harris, a former U.K. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates said in a phone interview from Dubai.

The U.S. last month sent a delegation from the State Department and President George W. Bush's National Security Council to meet with Gulf allies to discuss security concerns arising from Iran's nuclear program.

Gulf security has been a high priority for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She has held at least two meetings in recent months with members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, made up of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the U.A.E., Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait.

Among the measures discussed on last month's visit by the U.S. delegation, which included Assistant Secretary of State John Hillen and Assistant Secretary of Defense Peter Rodman, were the possible sale of U.S.-made defenses against land- and sea-based missile attacks as well as other hardware.

The U.S. Congress passed legislation last week to allow the U.S. to share civilian nuclear technology with India, rejecting arguments by arms control advocates that it undermines global efforts to curb the spread of atomic weapons. The legislation reverses U.S. policy, which has barred nuclear exports to India since that country tested an atomic bomb in 1974 without signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Gulf states may need nuclear power plants to help meet demand for energy from industries and booming economies that are being spurred by record high oil revenue, al-Faisal said.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, needs to invest an estimated $180 billion to raise generation capacity to 59,000 megawatts by 2024, according to government figures.

The U.A.E., where demand for gas is expected to quadruple over the next 25 years, is already considering building coal-burning power plants and importing the fuel from Indonesia or South Africa as an alternative energy source.

Crude oil for January delivery fell $1.40, or 2.2 percent, to $62.03 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange last week. It was the lowest close since Nov. 28. Prices are down 21 percent from the record of $78.40 a barrel reached on July 14.

Uranium enriched to low levels can fuel nuclear reactors, while higher concentrations are needed for atomic weapons.

It's an open secret that Israel possesses nuclear capabilities also. However, since they're an ally of the U.S., they have never actually been questioned about their alleged possession or whatever uses that they might have for it.

There will inevitably be opposition to the program especially from the U.S. Just bear in mind that the U.S. has been wrong before particularly in their charge of Iraq having weapons of mass destruction.

Wouldn't you agree that nuclear knowledge should be harnessed and put to good use? I say let's allow this program time to prove itself a worthy cause and that the rest of the world should not be up in arms about it. But that's not to say we should not keep a watchful eye.

That's just my opinion. What do you believe should be done?