Russia signed a cooperative agreement on nuclear power with the United Arab Emirates Monday, as the middle eastern nation commits to building four new reactors by 2020 and continues to pique the interest of nuclear manufacturers around the world.
In 2009, the UAE awarded a $20.4 billion contract to a Korean consortium led by KEPCO to build four APR-1400 reactors at Barakah. The emirates are also expected to award another $20 billion to the same group for assistance operating the units over 60 years, according to the World Nuclear Association. Bidding for that project and the potential for further expansion of nuclear power in the UAE have resulted in earlier nuclear power cooperation agreements with South Korea, the UK, Japan, France, Australia and the United States.
Russia joined that group earlier this week at a meeting of the UAE's energy minister and the director general of the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom), the Khaleej Times reported. The agreement creates a framework for the transfer of nuclear technology, equipment and material between the countries.