The president of the United Arab Emirates has yet to sign legislation that would create a nuclear regulatory agency essential for the nation to move forward with its planned atomic energy program, Maktoob Business reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 3).
Officials in the Gulf state had expected UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan to sign the bill last month.
"Nothing can happen without the law," said David Scott, head of economic affairs for the UAE Executive Affairs Authority. "The UAE will not import nuclear material or begin actual construction of related facilities until that element is firmly in place."
The bill would establish the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation and the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp. as entities responsible for overseeing various light-water reactor construction projects. The efforts are expected to cost between $41 billion and more than $60 billion (Tahani Karrar, Maktoob Business, Aug. 12).