Saudi Arabia set to establish civil nuclear energy centre

* username: rupertbu

Saudi Arabia , the world's largest oil supplier, is set to establish a civil nuclear and renewable energy centre to help meet demand for power as it pushes forward with economic expansion plans.

The Saudi press agency said at the weekend that the centre, the King Abdullah City for Nuclear and Renewable Energy, would be based in Riyadh and would be led by Hashim Abdullah Yamani, a former commerce and trade minister.

While discussions have focused on civil uses of the technology, analysts note that Saudi Arabia and other Arab Gulf states do not want to lag further behind Iran and Israel in developing nuclear technologies.