284 L.-C. SIM
of nuclear power plant construction, especially post-Fukushima, the withdrawal of credit by the US Export-Import Bank, the pre-requisite of
concluding 123 agreements, and low prices of hydrocarbon and renewable energies have burdened and even bankrupted privately-owned US
vendors. As for the nuclear industry in South Korea, its credibility was
damaged by the scandal over sub-standard nuclear components. It also
lost its top cheerleader when President Lee Myung-Bak completed his
term; the current president Moon Jae-In is more ambivalent about
nuclear power.
Consequently, Rosatom is almost the only game in town for cashstrapped purchasers in MENA as well as in Iran, a market that other
vendors have exited on pain of US sanctions. For Russia, nuclear inroads
into former and current US allies have bolstered its military and diplomatic return to a Middle East that has been an American lake since the
dissolution of the Soviet Union. Rosatom’s success is also a showcase for
President Vladimir Putin’s vision of a modern Russian economy that is
trying to move away from being the world’s raw materials appendage
to one that produces world-beating nuclear and hypersonic technologies.
Thanks partly to its ‘nuclear diplomacy’, Russia appears to be an indispensable broker in the region’s conflicts today where once its preferences
could be politely ignored by regional stakeholders. 85
Comparatively, the rise of Russia’s Rosatom did not shape the UAE’s
motivations to adopt nuclear energy. This was partly because the UAE
possessed strong financial capacity and partly because Russia was in the
midst of a massive reorganization of over 100 nuclear-related entities. 86
Rosatom was created as a legal entity only in December 2007; it was too
preoccupied with internal consolidation to submit a bid in August 2008
for the Barakah project. In any case, Rosatom is one of six suppliers that
will provide enriched fuel to Barakah for the first 15 years.
On closer analysis however, the sustainability of Russia’s reactor
export model is in jeopardy from several sources: competition from
China, foreign policy adventurism, domestic economic crises, and new
niche developments (see below). Having developed indigenous reactors
through reverse engineering earlier imported technology from Russia and
the US, China’s state-owned nuclear companies are looking for opportunities in developing countries that have signed up to its massive Belt
and Road Initiative. In MENA, China has concluded preliminary agreements with Iran, Egypt, Sudan, and Turkey to ‘buy lasting influence in
of nuclear power plant construction, especially post-Fukushima, the withdrawal of credit by the US Export-Import Bank, the pre-requisite of
concluding 123 agreements, and low prices of hydrocarbon and renewable energies have burdened and even bankrupted privately-owned US
vendors. As for the nuclear industry in South Korea, its credibility was
damaged by the scandal over sub-standard nuclear components. It also
lost its top cheerleader when President Lee Myung-Bak completed his
term; the current president Moon Jae-In is more ambivalent about
nuclear power.
Consequently, Rosatom is almost the only game in town for cashstrapped purchasers in MENA as well as in Iran, a market that other
vendors have exited on pain of US sanctions. For Russia, nuclear inroads
into former and current US allies have bolstered its military and diplomatic return to a Middle East that has been an American lake since the
dissolution of the Soviet Union. Rosatom’s success is also a showcase for
President Vladimir Putin’s vision of a modern Russian economy that is
trying to move away from being the world’s raw materials appendage
to one that produces world-beating nuclear and hypersonic technologies.
Thanks partly to its ‘nuclear diplomacy’, Russia appears to be an indispensable broker in the region’s conflicts today where once its preferences
could be politely ignored by regional stakeholders. 85
Comparatively, the rise of Russia’s Rosatom did not shape the UAE’s
motivations to adopt nuclear energy. This was partly because the UAE
possessed strong financial capacity and partly because Russia was in the
midst of a massive reorganization of over 100 nuclear-related entities. 86
Rosatom was created as a legal entity only in December 2007; it was too
preoccupied with internal consolidation to submit a bid in August 2008
for the Barakah project. In any case, Rosatom is one of six suppliers that
will provide enriched fuel to Barakah for the first 15 years.
On closer analysis however, the sustainability of Russia’s reactor
export model is in jeopardy from several sources: competition from
China, foreign policy adventurism, domestic economic crises, and new
niche developments (see below). Having developed indigenous reactors
through reverse engineering earlier imported technology from Russia and
the US, China’s state-owned nuclear companies are looking for opportunities in developing countries that have signed up to its massive Belt
and Road Initiative. In MENA, China has concluded preliminary agreements with Iran, Egypt, Sudan, and Turkey to ‘buy lasting influence in