Head of UK Atomic Energy Authority encourages Jordan to consider atomic power
Lady Barbara Thomas Judge, the chairwoman of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) told listeners at the CEO Middle East forum in Doha that atomic power was a reasonable alternative to complete dependence on oil and gas. Here is a quote from an article titled GCC gears up for nuclear power race that was published on March 4, 2007 on arabianbusiness.com:
Citing the fact that Jordan “doesn’t have a lot of energy”, Lady Judge tipped the Arab state to become the next Middle Eastern nation to focus on atomic power. Highlighting the many benefits of the controversial power source to the region, Lady Judge — a keynote speaker at the CEO Middle East forum in Doha — also said: “Even here [in the Middle East] where there is plenty of oil and gas there are people saying that it will run out, and some of the Gulf states don’t have any, some have lots, so we believe that it’s an alternative source of energy that must be considered.
“If you don’t start planning for it now, you don’t have it when you need it — the reason I think it might be interesting in the Gulf is because you have a lot of oil and gas now so it’s a solution for later,” she added.
I certainly hope that her boss (Tony Blair) is talking to my president and his staff to educate them on the need for nuclear power even in states that have oil today but may not have it tomorrow.
