Nuclear oversight: Iraq is qualified to establish nuclear power plants that generate stable electricity unaffected by crises.
Nuclear oversight: Iraq is qualified to establish nuclear power plants that generate stable electricity unaffected by crises.
6-23-2026
Baghdad-Mail
The National Nuclear, Radiological, Chemical and Biological Regulatory Authority confirmed on Tuesday that Iraq has the qualifications to establish nuclear power plants, while noting that international standards determine the selection of sites .
The head of the National Nuclear, Radiological, Chemical and Biological Regulatory Authority, Fadel Hawi Mezban, said, “Any place can be a site for the construction of a nuclear power plant, but tests and measurements must usually be carried out by the finest laboratories, as new criteria are constantly being added based on global accidents and experiences, such as the Fukushima accident in Japan, as well as the impact of the earthquakes that occurred in Türkiye last year.”
He added, “What happened in Fukushima was the result of an exceptional circumstance represented by the occurrence of a tsunami and the interruption of cooling, which led to the melting of the fuel and the occurrence of a major problem. As a result, the International Atomic Energy Agency imposed a new design standard that requires the containment of the reactor core in the event of a meltdown.”
He explained that “each company submits its own design, and this design is subject to approval, while the International Atomic Energy Agency updates and raises the standards to the highest levels,” indicating that “the agency has large and lengthy conditions that depend on the legislation, regulations and laws in operation, the organizational structures that regulate the work, the emergency structure, radiation protection, nuclear security, waste management, and financing, as well as a set of international agreements that Iraq is obligated to join.”
He pointed out that “Iraq has preliminary studies and previous studies dating back to the 1980s and 1990s, but they need to be updated to keep pace with modern developments and standards.”
He explained that “each company, according to the development of the situation, sets its standards according to the design used, and the matter requires a long work, as building the nuclear sector depends on the accumulation of experiences and institutions, as countries will move towards having nuclear programs, including Iran, Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt, and this matter is not just an option, but is related to technical standards and the need of countries for clean and stable energy,” noting that “all international companies are capable of designing stations that address various technical problems.”
He stated that “nuclear energy production currently stands at about 27,000 megawatts, and is expected to exceed 100,000 megawatts in 2040,” explaining that “part of the needs must be covered by clean energy that is characterized by continuity, especially since uranium fuel prices are stable globally compared to oil, which is affected by political crises.”
He pointed out that “the lifespan of a nuclear power plant extends from 60 to 80 years and may reach 100 years, but the main challenge lies in the need for a large amount of capital in the initial construction phase, and after the years pass the plant begins to cover its costs.”
He explained that “every design can address specific situations, whether in cooling systems or cooling quality, as there are engineering solutions for every problem, with full commitment to safety standards,” noting that “the matter requires first establishing the nuclear regulatory authority, and then completing the establishment of atomic energy institutions and the laws, regulations and instructions that regulate this sector in detail.”
He stressed that “one of the most prominent steps in building this sector was the visit of the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency to Iraq two years ago, during which he expressed the agency’s support for assisting Iraq, in addition to the recent American support for this file,” indicating that “working on regulations and instructions represents an important part of the solutions to the electricity production problem.”
He pointed out that “nuclear energy provides clean, stable, and highly reliable electricity, and operates year-round, but it requires continuous work, and the realistic timeframe for completing the basic requirements is around ten years.”
He explained that “this option is expensive at the beginning, but in the long run the cost of producing one megawatt is less than other options, in addition to the fact that fossil fuels cause pollution, while nuclear energy is a clean option with no emissions.”
Mizban stressed that “the highest safety standards rely on multiple lines of defense, up to eight lines of defense, to address any situation or problem, as there are solutions, defense options, engineering and security solutions for every possibility,” adding that “modern nuclear power plants use the latest technologies and equipment according to the highest safety levels, and what happened in Fukushima was an extraordinary circumstance that was not accounted for within the normal design conditions.”
Regarding financing, he explained that “there are several options for establishing stations, including the UAE’s experience, which adopted the integrated implementation method (turnkey method), and Egypt’s experience, which obtained a loan from the implementing company, as well as another option in which the implementing entity is responsible for financing, and Iraq is qualified to choose the appropriate model.”
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