U.A.E. Seeks Japan’s Help to Develop Nuclear Power Plants

By Megumi Yamanaka

Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The United Arab Emirates will hold talks with the Japanese government and reactor makers such as Hitachi Inc. and Toshiba Corp. this month as it seeks Japan’s help to develop nuclear power plants.

Japan, the world’s third-biggest atomic generator, may help the U.A.E. by offering services to develop legal frameworks and educate workers on atomic power, said government officials who declined to be named as negotiations haven’t been completed.

A delegation headed by Mohammed al-Hammadi, president of Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp., arrived late yesterday for a week- long visit to hold talks with government officials on areas of cooperation. The U.A.E., holder of almost 8 percent of the world’s crude reserves, wants to develop nuclear energy as an alternative source of electricity.

“Japan is behind others such as France in terms of making approaches but has built up a high level of technology for reactors that the U.A.E. wants,” Yuzuru Aizawa, an analyst at the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan’s biggest energy research body, said by phone.

Japan is poised to become the fourth country to sign atomic- power pacts with the emirates after France, the U.S. and the U.K. inked agreements this year.

Japan, the biggest buyer of oil from the U.A.E., imported about 58.5 million kiloliters (368 million barrels) from the Middle Eastern country last year.

Nuclear Project

Emirates Nuclear Energy hasn’t made any decision on a prime contractor, it said on its Web site. The agency chose in October CH2H Hill Cos Ltd., a U.S. consulting firm, to help implement a civil nuclear power program under a 10-year contract.

Abu Dhabi, the biggest of the seven emirates, this year started to import natural gas from its neighbor Qatar because its own deposits are too high in sulfur, making it too costly to process for power plants.

Electricity demand in the U.A.E. is expected to triple to 41,000 megawatts by 2020, Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al- Nahyan said in April.

Total SA, Suez SA and Areva SA have shown interest in building reactors in the U.A.E. with “local partners,” they said in a joint statement in January. Contracts may be worth as much as 4 billion euros ($5.1 billion), a French government spokesman said Jan. 11.

“The U.A.E. is expecting to get access to Japanese technology,” Aizawa said.

Meeting in Tokyo

The U.A.E. delegation including members of Emirates Nuclear Energy will meet with officials from the Japanese government and companies including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and visit a nuclear power plant and factories of Hitachi and Toshiba.

The U.A.E.’s planned nuclear program is the second of its kind in the Persian Gulf.

The emirates wants to set “a good example” in nuclear development for Middle Eastern countries, al-Nahyan said.

Iran is currently building its first reactor. The six Gulf Cooperation Council states, which include the U.A.E., Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman, asked the International Atomic Energy Agency last year to prepare a study on the viability of nuclear power for the region.

The U.A.E. is a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and would have to negotiate with the IAEA once it makes a decision on nuclear power use.

To contact the reporter on this story: Megumi Yamanaka in Tokyo at myamanaka@bloomberg.net.