While UN inspectors monitor the spent nuclear fuel at the Bushehr power plant, worries are that there are other sites the inspectors don't know about. From Radio Free Europe.The Middle East's Interrupted Atomic Dreams -- Foreign Policy
As oil prices drop, nuclear power is becoming less attractive in the region. So why is Iran still hanging on to its program?
In light of Iran's rapidly accelerating nuclear program, more than a dozen states in the Middle East have also announced their intention to develop nuclear energy programs. The trend has caused much anxiety among members of the global community. It has sparked concerns about the spread of nuclear technology that could contribute to nuclear weapons proliferation in the Middle East, intensify arms races in the region among all classes of weapons, and become a target for terrorist activity. On this site, Joe Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund, wrote about the United Arab Emirates (UAE): "After they have developed nuclear technologies, trained nuclear scientists and engineers, and plugged into global nuclear markets, will they go one step further and build uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing plants that could be used to make fuel -- or bombs?"
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My Comment: There is a lot to digest in this post. It's analysis on oil production trends in the Middle East (alone) makes this post worthwhile to bookmark.