I. Abstract
This is a research paper that presents the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) efforts to put up
nuclear power plant amidst its rich oil and petroleum resources. It shall present the
surrounding reasons and justifications why UAE has to take efforts in joining other
countries that also build up nuclear power plants to protect their own territories. The paper
shall be supported with thorough information gathering and validation of sources from
various references that are reliable and dependable. The final phase shall involve
assessment of findings that will arrive at a clearer conclusion on why UAE has to pursue
the plan of building up nuclear power plants, and why this shall be pursued in the next few
years.
II. Executive Summary
The World Nuclear Industry has been causing cumulative impacts brought about by global
economic crisis because of various factors like stiff competition between and among
countries engaged in it, poor planning or mismanagement of the plan and the industry
itself. Given the many possible reasons for its impacts, any country that engages in
building up nuclear power plant has to have serious study conducted to ensure that what it
ventures will pave the way to achieve positive results and not just bound to serious
problems instead. There is therefore a need to assess situations in potential newcomer
countries like the UAE; there is a need to look at the credit-rating performance of some of
the major nuclear companies and utilities in order to better prepare the development
patterns of nuclear power vis–vis renewable energies that are also not replete in countries
like UAE.
This study will present the viability of UAE’s involvement in the nuclear power plant
industry so that when UAE involves itself in this industry it will have all the necessary
preparations and considerations to fully take off its nuclear power plant industry.
While other countries are phasing out nuclear power plants like Belgium, Germany,
Switzerland, and Taiwan, five other countries have decided to re-engage in nuclear
programs and they are Egypt, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, and Thailand. Iran is adding into the
list being the first to start commercial operations since Romania’s operation in 1996 (The
World Nuclear Industry Status Report, 2012).
While other countries are closing down their nuclear power plants, there are others that
continued their operations. They must have seen some benefits to keep their operations and
so with UAE that is bent on putting up its own and really propagate the industry for a
longer period of time despite of the significant public opposition, and from those countries
that have concerns in dealing with adverse natural conditions like earthquake, flooding
risks, lack of cooling water access (The World Nuclear Industry Status Report, 2012).
It is best to note that as the study proceeds further, there are more information that will be
unearthed in terms of finding positive effects of building up nuclear power plant in the
UAE and that pursuing this industry will create more opportunities that will really make
the progressive results to UAE and the world as a whole.
III. Brief Overview of the UAE
3.1 Historical Background of the UAE
The United Arab Emirates is rich region that is deeply rooted in trade and business while it
is influenced largely by Islam. It is culturally rich because its location is between equally
rich in culture countries from Europe and the Far East. It also engages its trade with very
diverse nations like India and China and some European countries like those of Portugal,
the Netherlands and Great Britain (The UAE, 2013). The UAE is equipped with the ideal
location because of its coasts, its inland and sandy deserts are contributory to its becoming
a center for trade and business.
The UAE was actually known as “The Trucial States” when Great Britain signed series of
agreements with the individual emirates in the 19th century; the resulting agreements
paved the way for Great Britain to protect the coast of UAE from all aggression by the sea
and those from possible attached by land. Trade and business have been providing income
and employment to the people in the region. Economic depression, which have been
observed in the later 1920s and early 1930s have been observed throughout the history.
These have actually encouraged countries in the UAE region to keep crude exportation as
the economic mainstay from Abu Dhabi; undertaking massive program of construction of
schools, housing, hospitals and roads and such other infrastructures are supportive of the
UAE’s thrusts to advance its developments with the changing time.
The UAE is a federation composed of the six Emirates, namely, Abu Dhabi, Dubai,
Sharjah, Umm al-Quain, Fujairah and Ajman and they were formally established on
December 2, 1971 (The UAE, 2013). Later on, the seventh Emirate, Ra’s Al-Khai-mah
joined the six Emirates forming the New Federation.
The seven Emirates are true to their name as United Arab Emirates as they have forged a
very distinctive identity as a region. They have a political system that is a combination of
the traditional and modern structure that enables them to put up a modern administrative
structure that ensures the maintenance and preservation of what they have already built and
established traditionally of the past.
Their present president since 2004, H. H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has strived
to fulfill his vision for UAE, that is, to make UAE a beautiful place to see and stay with its
rich palm-filled oases, precipitous Hajar Mountains to fertile coastal plains (The UAE,
2013); it has rich tribal culture reliant on agriculture and fishing yet has achieved
