Dubai: Oil and Gas rich Arab and Gulf nations have started thinking about life, once the petroleum boom is over.
Leading world oil producers like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and even gas rich Qatar are firming up proposals to set up nuclear power plants to meet future energy needs.
They are queuing up behind UAE, which took the lead by pledging USD 10 million towards an International Atomic Energy Authority administered low-enriched uranium fuel bank to ensure a nuclear fuel supply.
A new industry is swiftly taking shape around what is expected to be the Arab world's first independent civil nuclear power programme, an engineering, safety and risk management consultancy has said.
"Several Gulf Cooperation Council countries have shown interest in nuclear energy including Kuwait and Qatar but it is in the United Arab Emirates where moves to establish a legal and regulatory framework for the new industry are at an advanced stage with firm decisions expected any time now," said Pat Lawless, CEO of ESR Technology, a company with operational bases in the UK and the Middle East.
"The oil and gas industry is vital to the economies of the Arabian Gulf but we are now beginning to see a new high technology industry quickly growing in the region as the UAE presses on with its nuclear power plans," he added.