UAE nuke energy push may start deal bonanza

The UAE’ $41bn nuclear programme, aimed at resolving an impending shortage of electrical generating capacity, is gaining support from Western nations, suggesting a major shift in focus in the oil-rich region from security to business opportunities.

The rise in global energy demand, coupled with concern about greenhouse gas emissions, requires not just more renewable energy but a revival of nuclear power generation as well, said Giacomo Luciani, Geneva-based director of think tank Gulf Research Center.

“American companies and other nuclear power contractors haven’t built a nuclear plant for a long time, so this is a great opportunity,” Luciani said.
Since the 1980s, the nuclear industry, dominated by the US, France, Germany, Russia and Japan, has undergone immense restructuring and consolidation as contracts dried up after the Chernobyl disaster.