'Saudi Arabia working on plans to build a nuclear power plant'
With the world seemingly unable to stop Iran's nuclear march, other countries in the region are now pushing forward with their own plans to build nuclear power plants.
The exterior of the Arak heavy-water production facility, 360 kms southwest of Teheran.
Photo: AP [file] , AP
The Saudi newspaper Al-Watan reported on Thursday that the Saudi minister of water and electricity, Abdullah al-Hosain, said the kingdom was working on plans for its first nuclear power plant. The US inked civil nuclear power deals with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates last year.
Israel had no official response to the Saudi minister's announcement.
Over the last two years, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, the UAE, Yemen, Morocco, Libya, Jordan and Egypt have all indicated an interest in developing nuclear programs, with Israeli officials saying, off the record, that if these countries did not want the programs now for their military capabilities, they wanted the technology in place to keep "other options open" if Iran were to develop a bomb.
Israel has been careful not to take a public stand on civilian nuclear programs in neighboring states, partly because as one of the few countries in the world that has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty, it is not keen on lobbying against nuclear know-how for peaceful needs going to countries that are willing to sign the treaty, since that would focus the limelight on Israel's own unique situation.
There is also a sense that if the programs were under the supervision of the US or France, which pledged two years ago to help Morocco develop a nuclear program, then there would be little concern that they would later be turned into military projects.
Nevertheless, defense officials said that Saudi interest in nuclear power was connected to Teheran's continued race toward nuclear power.
"The Saudis are genuinely scared of what will happen if Iran turns nuclear," one official said. "This is part of their response."
On the other hand, the officials said that Saudi Arabia's nuclear program was not of concern at the moment for Israel since the project was being established jointly with the United States and in the framework of International Atomic Energy Agency regulations.
Israeli defense officials have warned for several years that one potential outcome of Iran's success in defying the international community and establishing a nuclear program would be that other countries in the Middle East would follow suit.
Iran, meanwhile, lifted a year-long ban, allowing UN inspectors to visit a nearly completed nuclear reactor and granting greater monitoring rights at another atomic site, diplomats said on Thursday.
IAEA inspectors visited the nearly finished Arak heavy water reactor last week, the diplomats told The Associated Press.
Separately, they said Teheran agreed last week to IAEA requests to expand its monitoring of the Natanz uranium enrichment site, which produces material for nuclear fuel that can be further enriched to provide fissile material for warheads.
The diplomats demanded anonymity because their information was confidential.
The agency had been seeking additional cameras and inspections of the Natanz site, to keep track of the rapidly expanding enrichment program.
Iran's stonewalling had raised agency concerns that its experts might not be able to make sure that some of the enriched material produced at Natanz is not diverted for potential weapons use.
Since its clandestine enrichment efforts were revealed more than six years ago, Iran has steadily increased activities at its cavernous underground facility at Natanz, a city about 500 km. south of Teheran, shrugging off three sets of UN Security Council sanctions and rejecting talks meant to entice it to mothball the activity.
A June IAEA report said nearly 5,000 centrifuges were now enriching at Natanz - about 1,000 more than at the time of the last agency report, issued in February - with more than 2,000 others ready to start enriching. A new report due in the next week or so is expected to confirm that operations have continued to expand - along with Teheran's potential capacity to produce weapons-grade uranium.
Most experts estimate that the more than 1,000 kg. of low-enriched uranium Iran had accumulated by February was already enough to produce enough weapons-grade material through further enrichment for one nuclear weapon.
Before lifting the ban on visiting Arak, Teheran had repeatedly refused IAEA inspection requests, despite warnings by the agency that its stance contravened mutual agreements.
Western countries have repeatedly called on Iran to stop construction of the reactor, fearing it could be used as a second track toward building a warhead. When finished, say experts, Arak could produce enough plutonium for a nuclear weapon each year.
