Antinuclear

Middle East advised: renewable energy more economic than nuclear

Economic analyst Omar Al Jutraifani suggests that rather than spend billions of dollars on advancing nuclear energy — with all the risks that it involves — why not spend the money on .. renewable energy?…”Spending this amount on solar energy projects will be relatively safer compared with nuclear energy, which is a time bomb that could explode at any time, as with what occurred in Japan.”

Region urged to embrace renewable energy projects, Japan’s Fukushima plant disaster should serve as a warning to Middle East countries bent on spending billions of dollars on nuclear plants * By Orlando Crowcroft, Business News Editor   June 13, 2011

Japan’s nuclear crisis certainly gave pause for thought for anyone who had forgotten the risks associated with nuclear power.In the United Kingdom, members of parliament were quizzed about the safety of Britain’s nuclear facilities, while Germany re-affirmed its intention to phase out nuclear plants over the next decade.

But for oil-rich Saudi Arabia, the opposite was true.

Speaking just months after the explosion at Japan’s Fukushima plant in April, Abdul Gani Bin Melaibari, coordinator of scientific collaboration at the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, said that Saudi Arabia intended to build a total of 16 nuclear reactors by the end of 2030. At a cost of some $300 billion (Dh1.1 trillion),……

Critics point out that the investment in nuclear power comes at a time when other countries are shying away from nuclear energy, due to risks demonstrated all to clearly at Fukushima.

For the kind of money that Saudi Arabia is willing to invest, there are far safer forms of renewable energy avaliable.

Economic analyst Omar Al Jutraifani suggests that rather than spend billions of dollars on advancing nuclear energy — with all the risks that it involves — why not spend the money on other forms of renewable energy?

“I think that the level of risks in such projects will be very high in all criteria,” he said.

“Spending this amount on solar energy projects will be relatively safer compared with nuclear energy, which is a time bomb that could explode at any time, as with what occurred in Japan.”

gulfnews : Region urged to embrace renewable energy projects

June 13, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized