HAMMAMET, Tunisia, May 2, (KUNA): Cooperation between the State of Kuwait and the Arab Atomic Energy Agency (AAEA) is of high level and productivity and stands to considerably benefit Arab joint action in the field of peaceful nuclear energy, said head of a Kuwaiti delegation to the just concluded AAEA meetings on Sunday.
Undersecretary at the Ministry of Electricity and Water Ahmad Khalid Al-Jassar was speaking to KUNA after the wrap up of the extraordinary meeting of the executive council and the third general assembly.
He said the AAEA is in the process of fostering expertise and training staff in the field of atomic energy for the benefit of Arab states, in implementation of resolutions of the last three Arab Summits. It is organizing cooperation programs as well as joint projects on peaceful applications of nuclear technology.
The chairman of the Kuwait delegation said this effort is supported by the Arab League’s experts committee which recently approved 12 projects on legal and legislative aspects of peaceful atomic technology and its incorporation into such fields as agriculture, nuclear medicine, and water desalination.
In Kuwait, he said, the Higher Council for Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy was founded to lay infrastructure for setting up the required supervisory bodies. A panel of experts was also charged to consider and assess feasibility of building a nuclear plant to produce electric power, he added.
On the meetings’ results, he said the budget for 2011/2012 was approved at $2.1 million, up from $1.9 million in 2010. An additional budget of $860,000 was also approved to consolidate the 2010 budget, in view of a resolution by the economic and social council pertaining to all bodies affiliated with Arab League.
The Kuwaiti delegation to the meetings included Assistant Undersecretary for Power and for Water Desalination Stations Hamid Al-Khaldi, Ahmad Al-Dekheel, and Ahmad Al-Kanderi.
The meetings were attended by delegations representing Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Palestine, Libya, and Egypt, in addition to the host country. The other three members, Lebanon, Syria, and Bahrain were not represented.