GCC N-power plant will take 10 years: Expert

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“Implementation of nuclear power plant is a long and arduous task. If GCC is strictly adhering to all the mandatory practices and aggressively push for it, it will have a common power plant by 2022 at the earliest”, an international expert told this paper yesterday.

Speaking on the sidelines of the three-day workshop on the developing a regional nuclear training centre for capacity building in research here yesterday, Ait Abderrahim Hamad (pictured), Director, Institute for nuclear power system, Belgium said the region would take at least three years to pave road for nuclear technology ahead of its implementation. The implementation process would take another five years for the member-countries to master the technology before the launch of the power plant, he said.

“There are reports that some countries will have their nuclear power plants by 2012. But I can tell you, if a country that is planning to launch a nuclear power plant from scratches and decide strictly adhere to the mandatory norms, it would take more than fifteen years or so to commission the plant”, he said.

Embarking on a nuclear power plant requires long term strategy. A strong and sustained government support is very important for the implementation of the project.

The cooperation of the neighbouring countries is also necessary for meeting the project deadline, he said. Taking the public in confidence is a great job to be done before the launch of the project. Without keeping people in confusion, the concerned governments must allay the safety concerns of the public, he said.

“Strict enforcement of law must be there. The law enforcement and assessment agencies must be professionally competent. There should be proper air, earth and water monitoring systems”, Hamad said.

Earlier, Danas Ridikas, Reactor Specialist, Director, Nuclear Programme, International Atomic Energy (IAEA), said some countries in the Middle East, including UAE and Jordan are individually pursuing for nuclear powr plants in their respective countries. UAE has gone a long way in its bid to have the region’s first nuclear power plant, he said.

 

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