Sustainable supply
“When properly developed, nuclear energy can support sustainable development, improve energy resilience and even serve as a platform for regional cooperation.”
The revival of this energy source, which suffered a severe blow after the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, was demonstrated at the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, where nuclear energy was officially recognized as a low-emissions technology whose promotion must be accelerated.
33 countries supported the goal of tripling their nuclear energy capacity by 2050, including the United Arab Emirates, where the Barakah nuclear power plant meets about 25 percent of the country’s domestic energy needs.
Currently, 416 nuclear reactors in 31 countries provide almost 10 percent of the world’s electricity. Another 63 reactors are under construction and about 60 countries are considering or planning to introduce nuclear power, including small modular reactors.
Egypt is optimistic about nuclear energy as part of its comprehensive energy strategy.
In addition to renewable energy projects, including the Benban solar park and the Gulf of Suez wind farm, the country is close to completing the El Dabaa nuclear power plant, which will have a total installed capacity of 4,800 megawatts.
Egyptian authorities believe this will help them build a stable and efficient system that will also allow them to sell clean electricity abroad.
“Energy demand in the Middle East and North Africa region has tripled between 2000 and 2024 and will continue to increase, driven by AI and economic transformation,” said Almuntaser Albalawi, researcher at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR). “The region has a unique need for desalination and cooling, making the reliance on stable energy sources even more urgent.”
Inside the cooling tower of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine.
Security, climate and long-term uncertainty
Despite all these demands, the geopolitical environment in the Middle East raises questions about the security of nuclear energy development and operation in the region.
“When we talk about a nuclear power plant, a reasonable unit of time should be its life cycle: about 75 years from construction to decommissioning,” says Professor Zia Mian, a senior researcher at Princeton University and co-director of the Global Science and Security Program.
“All of these discussions must revolve around one central question: What has the Middle East been like over the last 75 years?
“How do we expect it to develop in the future?” he asks, pointing to the Arab-Israeli wars of 1967 and 1973, the Iran-Iraq war of 1980 to 1988, then the United States-Iraq wars followed by the Syrian civil war.
“Are you willing to bet that the next 75 years will be fundamentally different from the last 75 years?”
In addition to political and security considerations, there are also concerns that the climate and environment for nuclear energy development is unsuitable in the Middle East.
According to the first report of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Arab Climate Status Report Posted in 2024, the Middle East is warming twice as fast as the global average.
By the end of this century, temperatures could increase by five degrees Celsius, directly affecting the operation of nuclear power plants.
“In other words,” says Professor Mian, the Middle East will be virtually uninhabitable for people living outdoors.
“In addition, the heat exchange needs of nuclear power plants are extremely large, and their cooling water needs are also extremely large. Every summer, for example, when people need more electricity for cooling, France has to shut down nuclear power plants because the outside temperature is too high.”
A flying carpet?
According to Professor Mian, the fastest and most economical way to generate electricity is renewable energy. “Instead of waiting ten years for nuclear power, you can get a decade of solar or wind power for a fraction of the cost. So, in terms of climate benefits per dollar spent, the two are simply not comparable.
“I’ve seen a lot of narratives of the so-called ‘nuclear renaissance,'” he says. “This is actually an old idea. Every generation tries to sell the same flying carpet. That ‘buy my reactor, tomorrow will be the golden age’ kind of technological determinism is the worst. The world doesn’t work that way. Politics, people, systems and history are the key.”