Analysis: Yemen, Jordan hope for nuclear

[Human]

Nothing like the Democrats Opening up Pandora's Box. Do you people finally understand that the Democrats politics in getting power back "NO MATTER WHAT" has caused this?

 

There will be a NUCLEAR MIDDLE EAST, and the democrats made the case for it, and that's a reality that the democrats CAN'T CHANGE.

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http://www.upi.com/International_Security/...r_nuclear/3069/

 

Published: 1, 2007 at 2:02 PM

 

By DEREK SANDS

UPI Energy Correspondent

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- Deals to build nuclear power plants in Yemen and Jordan have come sooner than many expected, but a lack of funding and internal violence could derail those plans before they ever get off the ground.

 

Many countries in the Middle East are considering nuclear power, hoping to free up petroleum reserves for export, and also to balance Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Among others, regional heavyweights Egypt, Saudi Arabia, as well as the other Gulf Cooperation Council countries -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates -- have expressed interest in nuclear power. But building nuclear power plants is an expensive proposition, and not all countries can afford the costs.

 

The government of Yemen is planning to build five nuclear power plants over 10 years, according to news reports from Sanaa. Work would start in 2009, and they would supply a total of 5,000 megawatts to the country, at an estimated cost of $15 billion.

 

Such spending seems unlikely in a country the World Bank described as “one of the least developed countries in the world.” Currently Yemen produces about 1,000 megawatts of electricity, but faced with chronic shortages, it has plans for several gas-fired power plants that would provide between 340 and 3,800 megawatts, according to the Energy Information Administration, the data arm of the U.S. Department of Energy.

 

While oil and natural gas provide an overwhelming amount of government revenue, Yemen is in desperate need of new sources of power and income. Oil exports account for 74 percent of government revenue and 33 percent of its $19.1 billion gross domestic product. The country’s oil reserves will be depleted by 2014, according to estimates by the World Bank.

 

Yemen’s interest in nuclear power has been longstanding, but its relatively small government revenue, as well as the country’s instability, made it unlikely. The recent deals would have to overcome those obstacles if Sanaa hopes to embrace nuclear power.

 

Rebel groups in the country have often targeted energy infrastructure in Yemen. In 2006 coordinated suicide attacks against oil facilities were thwarted by security forces, but in 2002 the French oil tanker Limburg was bombed off the coast of Yemen. And that same year a missile was fired at a helicopter owned by a U.S. oil company.

 

In fact, energy facilities have proven such a tempting target in the region that Saudi Arabia announced in August the creation of a 35,000-person dedicated security force to protect its oil and gas facilities.

 

For its part, Jordan has long expressed an interest in nuclear power as well. At the end of August, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khalid Touqan told King Abdullah that nuclear power would provide Jordan with 30 percent of its power by 2030, according to the state-run news agency Petra.

 

And the U.S. Embassy in Amman on Sept. 16 announced that it would help Jordan reach that goal.

 

In a memorandum of understanding signed by energy officials from both countries during a ministerial meeting in Vienna, they agreed to cooperate on all aspects of Jordan’s efforts to embrace civilian nuclear power. The agreement falls under the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, a U.S. initiative that aims to reduce the risks of nuclear proliferation while encouraging peaceful nuclear power worldwide.

 

Although Jordan’s GDP per person is about four times that of Yemen, Jordan’s energy situation differs drastically. It imports 95 percent of its energy needs and has no significant oil deposits, according to the EIA. Jordan has about 230 billion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, and its one developed field powers a plant that provides the country with about 8 percent of its electricity, according to the EIA.

[Guest Bob Doorman]

Why do you say YOU DEMOCRATS ? What did Democrats do to cause a NUCLEAR MIDDLE EAST? Are you stating that countries do not have the right to use nuclear power.

If we use all uranium and thorium to its full potential, nuclear power can provide our needs for over 50,000 years. These countries want stable, affordable power, not vulnerable to day-to-day price fluctuations, power that leaves the air clean, power that produces waste in small, manageable quantities, power that has proven itself as the safest means of large scale generation, then nuclear power fits.

[Guest human_*]

Bob, if you think that for one moment that they are going to stop at just nuclear power? Forget it.

You remember that saying "Enough is NEVER Enough".

 

 

And why did I say "You Democrats", because of the politics that your side has played in trying to debunk this Administration's assertions that Iran is only a few years away from creating a nuclear bomb. While Iran was actively building centrifuges before the nuclear power plant was even built

 

Look on the bright side; Most of the Border fence WILL actually be sensors, and not just sensors to detect people either "Ya know Iran, and Venezuela, Brazil Syrian Connections", and the democrats support of chavez.

 

Add to that Gore re-inventing the net, and "Oh My Dear God!". Yaw know the 1995 internet decency act, which was passed by Clinton that Gore helped in shaping.

 

 

 

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Why do you say YOU DEMOCRATS ? What did Democrats do to cause a NUCLEAR MIDDLE EAST? Are you stating that countries do not have the right to use nuclear power.

If we use all uranium and thorium to its full potential, nuclear power can provide our needs for over 50,000 years. These countries want stable, affordable power, not vulnerable to day-to-day price fluctuations, power that leaves the air clean, power that produces waste in small, manageable quantities, power that has proven itself as the safest means of large scale generation, then nuclear power fits.