In a series of questions to Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah, the head of parliament's financial and economic affairs panel, Yussef al-Zalzalah, asked if sufficient studies have been made on the issue.

He also demanded to know the size of the budget allocated for the project and what has been spent so far.

In its drive to develop nuclear energy for peaceful use, particularly to generate electricity, the Gulf state set up Kuwait National Nuclear Energy Committee (KNENEC) in 2009 headed by the prime minister.

The emirate has signed memoranda of cooperation with France, the United States, Japan and Russia and, in April, upgraded its deal with France to the level of a full agreement.

KNNEC secretary general Ahmad Bishara said earlier this month that Kuwait will sign a fifth memorandum of cooperation with South Korea, which last year clinched a multi-billion-dollar deal with the neighbouring United Arab Emirates.

Zalzalah also inquired about press statements that Kuwait planned to build four 1,000-megawatt nuclear reactors by 2022, and if sufficient studies were made, and demanded documents related to the issue.

Kuwait's deals with the nuclear powers call for preparation, planning and nuclear power development which include training, human resources and infrastructure.

Bishara has said Kuwait expects electricity demand to double in 10 to 15 years from the current 11,000 megawatts, which would make the country face a serious power shortage.

The OPEC member currently burns 12 percent of its oil production to meet local electricity needs, and the figure will rise to 20 percent by 2030 if no alternative sources of energy are found, Bishara said.

Kuwait currently pumps around 2.3 million barrels of oil per day.

If the nuclear plans proceed as projected, Bishara estimated nuclear power would meet 15-20 percent of Kuwait's total electricity needs.

KNNEC is conducting a series of studies on the cost of power generation by nuclear energy, setting up legal frameworks, reviews on potential sites for nuclear reactors and human resources, Bishara said.

These studies are expected to be completed before the end of the year, and then the KNNEC will make the decision if Kuwait is to go nuclear, he said.

earlier related report
Germany approves disputed nuclear shipment to Russia
Berlin (AFP) Sept 23, 2010 - German authorities approved Thursday hotly disputed plans to ship radioactive nuclear waste to Russia in a move expected to spark fresh protests by atomic energy opponents in both countries.

Germany's nuclear watchdog green-lighted the shipment of 951 spent fuel elements from the temporary storage site Ahaus in the west of the country to the Mayak nuclear facility, 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) east of Moscow.

"The fuel elements... will be returned to Russia on the basis of the Russian Research Reactor Fuel Return Programme agreed between the United States, Russia and the International Atomic Energy Agency," the Federal Office for Radiation Protection said in a statement.

It did not release a date for the shipment, which will be packaged in a maximum of 18 specially sealed containers.

Russia environmental group Ecodefence had said that German authorities were to send the waste, originally from the Rossendorf research centre in former communist East Germany, between late 2010 and early 2011.

Rossendorf, in Dresden, was closed in 1991 and was one of the 20 research reactor plants set up across 17 countries in the former communist bloc.

German ecologist group BBU said in would stage protests against the shipment, which it branded "highly dangerous".

Demonstrators in Moscow rallied against the plans in August, citing the threat of "terrorist acts" and risk of forest fires leading to radioactive contamination.

The Mayak facility in Ozersk is a major nuclear reprocessing plant and was the site of a massive nuclear accident in 1957.

A state of emergency was declared in Ozersk last month after Russia's wildfires blazed dangerously close to the plant.

Tens of thousands of Germans hit the streets Saturday in Berlin to protest government plans to extend the life of the country's 17 nuclear power plants well beyond the planned shut-off date of around 2020.

Source: RIA Novosti News Agency

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