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Saudis Make Push for Nuclear Energy
By BROOKE ANDERSON
Sept. 15, 2015 4:47 p.m. ET

While the world’s attention has focused on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, other players in the Middle East have been laying their own plans to develop nuclear power to meet future energy needs.

Saudi Arabia, the most ambitious of the group, has announced plans to build 16 reactors over the next several decades, providing a projected 15% of the country’s electricity possibly as early as 2032, according to a Saudi government website. The estimated cost of the program: more than $80 billion, according to an analysis of the plans by Ali Ahmad, a research fellow and lecturer on energy policy at Princeton University. Mr. Ahmad says he based his calculation on a roughly $5 billion price tag for each reactor.

Plans for nuclear power in the Arab Mideast go back to 2006, when the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates—began to study the feasibility for a nuclear program to help serve the region’s domestic electricity and desalination needs.

French energy companies Areva SA and EDF SA have agreed to help train workers and help develop a Saudi supply chain. The French and Saudi governments in June signed an agreement to study the feasibility of building two power reactors. South Korea back in March signed a memorandum of understanding to study the feasibility of building two small to midsize reactors.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/saudis-make-push-for-nuclear-energy-1442350064