Saudi Arabia business forum in Atlanta, quick money but burden for next generation

According to Commerce and Industry Minister Abdullah Zainal Alireza Saudi Arabia invests more than $100 billion for 16 nuclear energy plants to be build in their country within the next few years,  to reduce crude oil consume. This move has quick money as target, because crude oil brings more money at the stock market. [1]

The Saudi minister, speaking at the business forum in Atlanta, cited the nuclear strategy of his country as an effort to reduce dependence on oil and gas. This includes also to develop solar and other renewable energy technologies, for instance, investing $3 billion in production of solar energy panels in Jubail and Yanbu.

Decommissioning costs
Saudi Arabia does not consider the decommissioning costs, the costs of storage of nuclear waste. Germany is having enormous costs with the repository “Asse II” no final safe reopitory has been found in Germany. All this is of no importance in USA. The nuclear waste is stored at their power stations of just littered in the environment. Decommissioning costs  of a nuke plant are as high as aquisition costs and last 20 years.

Radioisotope caesium of Fukushima disaster in Japanese babyfood  [2]
The Japan's Meiji Holdings recalls their infant milk which is tainted up to 30.8 becquerels of caesium-137 and caesium- 134. The limit set by Japan's health ministry is 200 becquerels per kilogram for powdered milk. Prolonged exposure to radiation in the air, ground and food can damage DNA, causing leukemia and other cancers. Infants are especially susceptible. High  radiation in vegetables, tea, milk, seafood and water are still being detected all over the country.

The earthquake and tsunami in March 11, 2011 destroyed several blocks of the Fukushima Daiichi plant and spread radiation over the country. Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) is still struggling to   bringing the facility under control, reducing  the amount of radiation emitted from its reactors and reducing temperatures of the water, cooling them to levels considered stable.

About 45 tons of contaminated water had leaked  at the early December 2011, and 300 litres escaped to the environment. The company still targets a cold shut down, but temperatures of the reactors are still too high for this procedure.

Tokelau puts big leader to shame at the Durban Climate Talks [3]
Tokelau, a small Pacific country, made an announcement which puts the big world leaders to shame. Tokelau will switch entirely to renewable energy. They will use solar power, wind turbines and, if necessary operate their diesel aggregates with local cocoa oil.

This is a signal of the  people to those who have been  in charge and are still in the responsibility to act. It is a direct accusation of failure of world leaders to cope with a sustainable financial system which broke down, beginning in 2008 in New York. These leaders also fail to follow the call for a sustainable energy politics, which is not based on best profit and quick money such as nuclear power.

Saudi Arabia should embrace green technology and quit the 16 nuclear power plant contract
Sadi Arabia should reconsider the contract of the 16 nuclear power plants and change this investment to solar power, wind turbines and the hydrogen technology. This would bring the Kingdom out of the dependence of uranium producing countries.. It also would free itself of the dominance of the US lobby influencing state affairs.

Saudi Arabia 's income will fall if the kingdom does not embrace innovations  [4]
According to Mohammed al-Sabban, the envoy of Saudi Arabia to the climate negotiations at Durban, his country must ensure that these talks won’t unfairly limit the exporter group’s income. He stressed at a conference at Riyadh on Nov 21“Saudi Arabia and its OPEC partners are being asked to bear too much of the burden of cutting greenhouse-gas emissions because their economies depend on oil and natural-gas revenue.”

Al-Sabban added that Saudi Arabia does not ask for compensation for the loss of income from oil sales  due to the change to renewables. However,  the kingdom does seek technological assistance from developed countries and investments to diversify its economy.

Innovations for Saudi Arabia
Exploring the wealth of the kingdom on solar and on wind energy and producing hydrogen as clean fuel for transportation, could leave crude oil for valuable chemical products, such as carbon fibre to build aircraft and cars. There is a lot that the Kingdom can achieve in this  business. Nuclear power is certainly not the right decision.

[1] Saudi Arabia to spend $100bn on 16 nuclear plants. Arab News 08 Dec 2011.
http://arabnews.com/economy/article545341.ece

[2] Cesium in Baby Milk Powder Shows Lingering Threat of Radiation in Japan. Bloomberg. 07 Dec 2011.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-06/radioactive-cesium-found-in-meiji-baby-formula-spurs-recall-shares-fall.html

[3] Pacific micro-state switches entirely to renewable energy. Tokelau challenged world leaders at the UN climate talks in Durban to follow its lead. The Guardian 08 Dez 2011.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/dec/08/pacific-micro-state-renewable-energy?intcmp=239

[4] Saudis fear climate talks will hurt OPEC oil income, Arabian Business.com. 27 Nov 2011.
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/saudis-fear-climate-talks-will-hurt-opec-oil-income-431913.html