Saudi, Gulf States to Study Using Nuclear Technology

  By Andy Critchlow

  Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia and five other Gulf Arab monarchies, which pump a fifth of the world's oil, will study using nuclear technology for power generation, Gulf Arab heads-of-state said after a summit in Riyadh today.

  ``Nuclear technology is an important technology to have for generating power and the Gulf states will need it equally,'' Saud al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, told reporters in a press conference following the meeting that was carried live on Arabic television channels. ``It's not a threat. We are not doing it secretly,'' he said.

  The six Gulf Cooperation Council countries, including the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, will set up a commission to study the applications of nuclear technology, according to the final summit communiqué received by e-mail today.

  The Arab Gulf states initiative comes as the United Nations Security Council pressures Iran to stop the production of enriched uranium. Uranium enriched to low levels can fuel nuclear reactors, while higher concentrations are needed for atomic weapons.

  Mark Regev, an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, declined to comment on the Gulf's nuclear study. Hossein Entezami, a spokesman for Iran's National Security Council, was not available for comment.

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