A recent Bloomberg news report entitled Iraq Aims to Go Nuclear to Resolve Crippling Power Shortages[1] revealed that Iraq is planning to build 8 nuclear reactors to generate electricity to close an expected electricity supply gap of 50% by 2030. The news report quoted Dr. Kamal Hussain Latif, Chairman of the Iraqi Radioactive Sources Regulatory Authority (IRSRA) saying that the 8 reactors will have combined capacity of 11 gigawatts, that the plan will cost US$ 40 billion and that Iraq is seeking funding for this plan from prospective partners, particularly Russia and South Korea. According to Dr. Latif, without nuclear power by 2030, Iraq will be in serious trouble”.
Furthermore, the news report claims that the plan will face significant challenges in raising financing and geopolitical concerns regarding the safety of atomic energy. Yet, the news report didn’t discuss the issues of the Government of Iraq limited technical and management capacities in planning, negotiating, procuring and implementing the plan. There is also the issue of the safety and security as well as regulation, monitoring and oversight of the nuclear activities.
[1] Khalid Al Ansary and Anthony Di Paolo, Iraq Aims to Go Nuclear to Resolve Crippling Power Shortages, Bloomberg, June 8, 2021. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-08/iraq-plans-to-go-nuclear-to-resolve-crippling-power-shortages
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Humam Misconi-Bloomberg’s Report Is Insubstantial and Iraq Doesn’t Need Nuclear Power- final
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