Introduction

Saudi Arabia is seeking to harness nuclear energy through an expansive programme that would meet, albeit partially, the kingdom's soaring energy requirements. Sharply rising demand for power spurred by population growth, a rapidly expanding industrial sector led by petrochemical cities, huge water desalination plants, high demand for air conditioning during the peak summer months, and heavily subsidized electricity disbursal, have put upward pressure on the country's fossil fuel resources. Power generation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) – as in the rest of the Middle East in general – is primarily thermal, powered by hydrocarbons such as crude oil and fuel oil, enabled by one of the world's largest hydrocarbon reserves and historically high oil prices.

Spiralling domestic demand for electricity prompted a vast power generation expansion programme in 2010, as the KSA plans to double the installed generating capacity by 2032. The kingdom anticipates a rise in domestic oil consumption, currently about 3 million barrels per day (mb/d), to around 8 mb/d, approaching its current output in 2030. Although Saudi Arabia has the world's largest proven oil reserves in the world, capable of supplying crude for the next 80 years at current production level, the anticipated rise in domestic energy demand will start restricting the export capacity of the country. Petroleum export, which accounts for 90 percent of government income, acquires renewed salience in the context of the Arab Spring. The Saudis need to keep up their large social welfare spending for many years to come, so as to prevent the unrest that has engulfed several countries in the region from spilling over into the kingdom.

Thus the world's leading oil exporter has laid the groundwork for ambitious nonconventional energy plans in an effort to curtail the country's dependence on fossil fuels and free up more oil for export. By 2032, Saudi Arabia strives to generate almost 55 gigawatt (GW) of power from non-conventional sources, about 40 percent of the country's power requirements. The kingdom is seeking a diversity of solutions among non-conventional energy or renewable energy – namely, wind, solar, geothermal, waste, and nuclear. In June 2012, the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE), the kingdom's energy diversification establishment, announced that Saudi Arabia plans to include nuclear power in its repertoire of non-conventional energy generation.