International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed
ElBaradei arrived in Amman Saturday on a visit to Jordan, part of
his Mideast tour on countries aiming to obtain nuclear energy.
During three-day stay in Jordan, the third leg of the regional
tour that has already taken him to Saudi Arabia and Oman, ElBaradei
will hold talks with King Abdullah II on Amman's nuclear
program.
The king may announce the kingdom's intention and steps to be a
member of the so-called "Mideast nuclear-power club", local media
reported.
ElBaradei will also visit an IAEA-funded international research
facility south of Amman.
?
Jordanian Energy Minister Khaled Sharida said earlier this month
that the kingdom intended to operate its first reactor for the
purpose of energy production in 2015.
The purpose of the intention is "to ensure a better future and
achieve continuous development" for the country, which lies in a
desert region and suffers from a severe energy shortage, he
added.
Jordan is not the only country in the Middle East region that
has the intention to enter the nuclear club in the unstable zone,
dominated by Iran and Israel.
Egypt has repeatedly voiced its intention to renew a nuclear
project halted about two decades ago.
During their last summit meeting, the six-member Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC), grouping Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar,
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, also outlined its
intention to set up a common program to develop nuclear energy for
peaceful purposes.
In the 19th summit meeting in Riyadh in late March, Arab leaders
issued two resolutions on expanding use of peaceful nuclear
technology in the various domains and establishing joint Arab
ventures in various scores, particularly in the energy and water
desalination spheres.
Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa probed Thursday with
director general of the Arab Atomic Energy Agency (AAEA) Mahmoud
Nasreddin steps needed to put into effect the resolutions of the
Riyadh summit.
Although the Arab leaders again and again stated that they try
to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and "the peaceful use
of nuclear energy is the right of every country", the international
community has been worrying about it with questions.
The world has asked: What is behind the "Mideast nuclear-power
club"? Is it simply an energy phobia that is driving nations
towards nuclearization, or is it a reaction to Israel's military
nuclear capability and a reaction to the Iranian nuclear
program?
Egyptian Foreign Minister Abul-Gheit has stressed that the
challenge facing the Arab countries is how to deal with the Israeli
nuclear file and avoid the emergence of new nuclear powers in the
region.
Barbara Thomas Judge, chairman of UK's Atomic Energy Authority,
held that the Mideast region really need nuclear power to meet its
ever-increasing energy demands.
"Although the Middle East region still has a wealth of untapped
oil reserves, the supplies are diminishing fast. Meanwhile, atomic
energy is a more reliable solution than other alternative sources,"
she said.
However, the scholars assume that the new wave of nuclear
development is also resulted from a "domino effect", as "states
feel the need to remain competitive by keeping up with nuclear
technology."
In February, the GCC and the IAEA agreed to cooperate on a
feasibility study on the region's plans for a nuclear energy
program.
IAEA chief ElBaradei defended the regional countries' right to
nuclear energy and dismissed doubts raised by US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice in December on the motives for the nuclear plan in
a region rich in oil and gas.
After a meeting with GCC chief Abdulrahman al-Attiyah in Riyadh
on Thursday, ElBaradei told a press conference that "it is a
natural right for the GCC countries to possess nuclear energy in
order to use it for peaceful purposes."
"Nothing prevented ... the United States ... or the (former)
Soviet Union ... from developing nuclear energy while they were
producing large quantities of oil," he said, stressing that"
preparation in the long-term for the use of nuclear energy in
desalination and power generation may not happen tomorrow but it
may happen be within 10 years or 15 years."
Jalil Roshandel, the associate professor and director of the
Security Studies Program at the Political Science Department of
East Carolina University, said in his articles that the Mideast
region's nuclear programs are partly fuelled by concerns about
future energy supplies.
"Nuclear technology acquisition is the hottest topic among
Middle East nations today, even among those that had previously
abandoned their plans," he noted.
Roshandel took Egypt and Iran for instance, saying the two "are
vocal in their wish for a nuclear-free Middle East, but neither,
apparently, wants to take any step to forego its nuclear
program."
"Intentions across the region are, for the moment, peaceful. But
the decision to go nuclear could prove disastrous if countries
start to consider military options," the professor warned.
(Xinhua News Agency April 15, 2007)
