Environment & Energy | Saturday 24 October, 2015 3:16 am |

The Kingdom has signed a cooperation agreement on the peaceful use of atomic energy with Hungary in order to diversify its energy sources to achieve its Vision 2032.

The vision aims to replace 50 percent of dependence on traditional fossil fuel with atomic and renewable energy sources.
The atomic agreement with Hungary, which includes cooperation in reactor design, construction and operation, security, waste management and training, was signed here on Monday by Hashem Abdullah Yamani, president of King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (K.A.CARE), and Miklos Sesztak, Hungarian minister of national development, who was in the capital, said a K.A. CARE spokesman on Thursday.
"The bilateral atomic agreement is aimed at the enhancement of cooperation between the two countries on the development and utilization of atomic energy for peaceful purposes," he added.

Commenting on the deal the K.A.CARE president said: “Signing the agreement with Hungary will further the Kingdom’s steps to proceed with its efforts to establish and upgrade the development process to generate a mix of varied and sustainable resources of atomic and renewable energy.”
"This march, will no doubt provide the opportunity to preserve, for generations to come, the depleting hydrocarbon resources," he added. The overall objective of the Kingdom is to diversify its investment basket in the energy sector, he pointed out.
The annual increase in domestic demand for energy ranges now between 6 and 8 percent, whereas the forecasts indicate that the Kingdom will have to increase its generated power by 80 gigawatts by 2040.

“With such an increase in the local demand for energy … it is of paramount importance for the Kingdom to utilize, in a safe, sustainable and clean manner, the technology of atomic and renewable energy to meet its ever-increasing demand for energy, which will permit us to preserve our hydrocarbon resources for generations to come,” he added.
Hungary is one of the countries that have adopted advanced leading technological industries and the agreement will contribute with technology transfer.
The agreement follows a 2012 accord between the two countries on cooperation in various fields, including the design, construction and operation of commercial nuclear power plants and research reactors.

The agreement also covers cooperation in nuclear security, safety, emergency preparedness and response, as well as radioactive waste management.
The Kingdom has earlier signed cooperation agreements with France, South Korea, China, Argentina, Russia and Finland.
K.A.CARE recently signed agreement with the International Institute of Nuclear Energy (I2EN), a French government initiative to bring together leading universities and engineering schools to help country partners of France for responsible development of nuclear energy, in a bid to train Saudi engineering graduates in nuclear energy.