The move makes the UAE the first Gulf state to go ahead with announced ambitions to develop civilian nuclear power.

The Cabinet, chaired by Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, approved a policy statement submitted by Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the UAE's potential development of a peaceful nuclear energy programme, according to WAM.

Under the policy, the UAE plans to set up a Dh375 million Nuclear Energy Implementation Organisation as recommended by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and is proceeding to evaluate the establishment of a peaceful nuclear programme that would make the potential benefits of nuclear power available to the people of the UAE.

Transparency

The UAE, however, has made it clear that its project will not involve uranium enrichment, the most sensitive part of a programme, and that it would instead import nuclear fuel from international sources.

"The UAE will publish the programme's full details, in keeping with its approach of absolute transparency in dealing with the international community," Shaikh Abdullah was qouted by WAM as saying.

The policy says that the UAE is committed to complete operational transparency, pursuing the highest standards of non-proliferation and to the highest standards of safety and security.

The UAE will also be ready to sign a so-called "additional protocol" with the IAEA, allowing for extra scrutiny of its activities. "The UAE will work dir-ectly with the IAEA and conform to its standards in evaluating and potentially developing a peaceful nuclear energy programme. The country will ratify additional non-proliferation instruments, including the IAEA Additional Protocol to the Safeguards Agreement and the IAEA Amendment to the Convention on Physical Protection. It will also ratify international nuclear safety instruments, including the IAEA Convention on Nuclear Safety and the IAEA Joint Convention on Safety of Spent Fuel management," according to the policy statement.

It further states the UAE hopes to develop any peaceful nuclear power capability in partnership with the governments and firms of responsible nations, as well as with the assistance of appropriate experts.

In January, the UAE signed a nuclear co-operation agreement with France during Pres Nicolas Sarkozy's tour of the Gulf region. French oil company Total has joined with other French firms in submitting a proposal to the Abu Dhabi authorities to develop two reactors.

The UAE argues it needs nuclear energy to satisfy soaring demand for power and desalinated water. With electricity demand soaring by 10 per cent a year, the UAE is expected to double its power capacity over the next decade to supply the rapidly-growing population and many industrial ventures.

The nuclear policy statement says: "Recent analysis of future domestic electricity demand and supply conducted by official UAE entities has concluded that peaceful nuclear power-generation represents an environmentally promising and commercially competitive option which could make a significant contribution to the UAE's economy and energy security."

The UAE, the policy statement said, supports international efforts to develop a network of multi-lateral fuel assurances, possibly including a "last resort" fuel bank, which would provide insurance against nuclear fuel supply interruption for states with no enrichment facilities.

The UAE will approach any domestic nuclear power programme in a manner that best ensures long-term sustainability.

The policy statement concludes that through the adoption and implementation of the policies and actions, the Government of the UAE hopes to establish a new model by which non-nuclear states may explore and potentially deploy nuclear energy with the full support of the international community.

Agreement: French assistance

During their talks in Paris in July last year, President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and French President Nicolas Sarkozy agreed to put into effect their 1980 agreement on the peaceful use of nuclear technology in order to enable the UAE to produce electricity from nuclear energy.

In January, the UAE signed a nuclear co-operation agreement with France during Sarkozy's visit to the Gulf.

French oil company Total has joined with other French firms in submitting a proposal to the Abu Dhabi authorities to develop two reactors.

A trio of French energy and engineering groups have linked up to build and operate two reactors in Abu Dhabi.

French nuclear technology group Areva, oil company Total and utility group Suez recently sealed a deal to build and operate the reactors.

The companies responded to interest from the water and electricity authority in the emirate, ADWEA.

With the establishment of the UAE Nuclear Authority, the companies are now ready to supply and operate the electricity-producing plants.