(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-10-29 23:13

At the time, Hassan Yunis, the minister of electricity and energy, said Egypt could have an operational nuclear power plant within 10 years.

Egypt has conducted nuclear experiments on a very small scale for the past four decades, but they have not included the key process of uranium enrichment, according to the IAEA.

Earlier this year, former U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said he supported Egypt's ambitions but said it would be at least a decade before Cairo could launch a nuclear program and urged Egypt to sign additional protocols allowing for greater inspection oversight.

Iran's progress in building its nuclear program had sparked a rush among other Middle East countries to look at programs of their own to diversify and expand their energy resources.

Yemen's government in September signed an agreement with Houston-based Powered Corporation to build nuclear power plants over the next 10 years to generate electricity. Jordan, several Gulf Arab countries and Turkey have also announced that they were interested in developing peaceful nuclear programs.

But the rush has also raised the possibility of a dangerous proliferation of nuclear technology in the volatile region. The United States accuses Iran of secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies the claims and says its program is for peaceful purposes including developing electricity.

   1 2   

   1 2