Iraq postpones first nuclear power plant project
The nuclear plant at Tuwaitha that was destroyed in the Gulf War. Photo: Getty Images
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The head of the Iraqi Radioactive Sources Regulatory Authority (IRSRA), Kamal Hussein Latif, announced on Tuesday the postponement of the project to build the first nuclear power plant in Iraq due to the failure to form a new government.
In a statement to the Iraqi News Agency (INA), Latif explained that a committee was formed to discuss the possibility of signing contracts with countries that made progress in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and the committee submitted the study to the Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi.
“The committee completed its work seven months ago, but the issue remained pending because of the inability to form a new government. The current government is transitional and cannot make a decision in this regard,” Latif told INA.
Latif elaborated that several countries expressed their willingness to help Iraq build nuclear reactors, including reactors for medical purposes.
“First and foremost, Iraq needs nuclear power plants in the light of the regular power outages,” Latif added.
The Iraqi authorities planned to build a nuclear power plant in the country to meet the demand for electricity.
In 2021, Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation, a Russian state corporation headquartered in Moscow specialized in nuclear energy and one of the world leaders in nuclear fuel production, announced that it would discuss the prospects for cooperation with Iraq in this field.
Iraq’s previous nuclear power reactors, built during Saddam Hussein’s rule, were destroyed almost thirty years ago, according to The New Arab.
The country had three reactors in Tuwaitha, its main nuclear research site located south of Baghdad, The New Arab mentioned.
One was destroyed by an Israeli air strike in 1981, and the other two were destroyed by US strikes during the 1991 Gulf War following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait the previous year, The New Arab added.