Qatar calls for halt to weaponisation of energy in conflicts

Qatar has called for the halt on the banning the passage of energy or the prevention of its export or import in stages of political crises, and for not using it as a weapon in conflicts.This came in the statement delivered by HE the Permanent Representative of Qatar to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Sultan bin Salmeen al-Mansouri before the International Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Power in the 21st Century, currently underway in Washington.HE al-Mansouri said that the world is facing an unprecedented energy crisis today due to the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, with most countries facing difficulty in fulfilling energy needs, leading to an increase in the price of goods and services, and causing a significant increase in inflation rates.He said that Qatar is convinced that the adoption of a mix of energy sources contributes effectively to ensuring sustainable development and achieving security of energy supplies for peoples.HE al-Mansouri added that Qatar also sees nuclear energy – as a source of which the use is growing globally – as a great source of energy when the internationally accredited and accepted elements of nuclear safety and security are accounted for.He indicated that nuclear energy remains, for the foreseeable future at least, the most practical option in response to the escalation of alternative energy sources, but in return, the expansion of the use of nuclear energy must be carefully calculated due to the risks resulting from error or lack of safety procedures or not taking into account exceptional cases like natural disasters or terrorist acts.HE al-Mansouri added that these real risks necessitate strengthening international and regional co-operation at all stages of building and operating nuclear power reactors, striving to achieve universality of all treaties and agreements on the peaceful use of nuclear energy, giving priority to strengthening the role of the IAEA and providing the agency with the resources to provide the international community with complete and reliable safeguards of safety procedures in nuclear reactors and to contribute to the development and strengthening of these procedures.He called for the safety procedures in the reactors to be with a high degree of transparency to reassure neighbouring countries, and stressed the central role of the IAEA in providing these safeguards and the need for full and comprehensive implementation of the Convention on Nuclear Safety (CNS) and the rest of relevant agreements and treaties.HE al-Mansouri reviewed Qatar’s role in recent years in international efforts related to addressing climate change, finding innovative solutions for clean and low carbon energy, achieving the goals of the COP26 Climate Summit, and accomplishing zero carbon emissions.In this regard, he announced that Qatar has entered into a partnership with “Rolls-Royce” by investing in the manufacture of Small Modular Reactors (SMR), saying that it is hoped that this type of reactor will play an important role in achieving the goals and recommendations of the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris (COP21).HE al-Mansouri pointed out that on October 18, one of the largest solar power plants in the region, with a capacity of 800MW, covering an area of 10sq km and containing 8.1mn solar panels, was opened to provide 10% of the electricity in Qatar at peak times.He said that Qatar is proposing an international awareness campaign, especially in Third World countries, to introduce power reactors and the security and safety measures in them, spreading a culture of rationalising energy use, creating a national environment that positively interacts with energy, protecting it, and enhancing its security and safety measures as well as preserving and developing it.HE al-Mansouri concluded by saying that Qatar hopes that the International Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Energy in the 21st Century would achieve the aspired success by providing a solution to address energy poverty affecting more than 1bn people worldwide.