When Abu Dhabi awarded a $20.4bn contract last December to a consortium led by the Korea Electric Power Corporation to oversee construction of a nuclear programme, many observers were taken by surprise.
The bid battle had been considered a two-horse race between US- and French-led consortia. Critical to Kepco’s success was a commitment to technology transfer and to train and employ a high proportion of UAE nationals in the massive plants to be built.
But that commitment may be difficult to meet, say industry watchers and participants, because of a dearth of qualified engineers locally and because of high international demand for skills. Today, some 60 nuclear plants are being built worldwide.
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