Pat Dollard | Young Americans

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama has approved plans for the United States to help the United Arab Emirates become the first Arab nation with a nuclear power industry that will fuel the country’s growing demand for electricity.

Obama’s official backing of the pact, known as a “123 agreement,” is being praised by pro-business groups that say US companies are now in the running for major construction work connected to the $41 billion project.

The president’s approval comes a few weeks after news organizations obtained a videotape showing a member of the country’s royal family torturing a man.

The videotape led to criticism of the UAE’s human rights record at a time when there is such an intense debate over US interrogation methods.

Questions also have been raised about UAE’s history as a trans-shipment point for sensitive technology moving into Iran. A small but vocal group of lawmakers have said they will oppose the deal unless the UAE takes stronger action to keep Iran from obtaining materials that could help it develop nuclear weapons.

Despite the objections, it is unlikely that Congress will be a roadblock. Once the State Department sends the agreement to Congress, lawmakers will have 90 days to pass legislation amending or rejecting the deal. If no bill passes, the agreement goes into effect.

Supporting UAE’s use of nuclear power for peaceful purposes also is intended to be a counterweight to Iran’s pursuit of atomic weapons. Obama, as did his predecessor, George Bush, sees the UAE program as a positive example for other countries, especially in the volatile Middle East.

Under the pact, the UAE must import, rather than produce, fuel to be used in its nuclear reactors. It also has committed not to enrich uranium or reprocess spent nuclear fuel for plutonium, which is used in nuclear bombs.

The agreement creates the legal framework for the United States to transfer sensitive nuclear items to the UAE. The pact was actually signed in January by the departing Bush administration, which left the final decision to Obama.

“By moving this agreement forward, the president is creating the potential for thousands of new jobs for American workers,” said Danny Sebright, president of the US-UAE Business Council.

The UAE is expected to begin choosing construction companies this year for reactor work. Firms from Japan, France and Russia also are expected to compete. “I think UAE very much wants the US under the tent,” Sebright said.