Sarkozy Pushes Nuclear Energy in Mideast

The nuclear pacts with Arab countries are part of Sarkozy's pet project to create an informal Mediterranean cooperation council. But he said he is willing to "help any country which wants to acquire civilian nuclear power."

Already he is pursuing two of the hottest nuclear markets in the world -- China and India. Late last year, France inked a multibillion-dollar deal to build two reactors in southern China, and Sarkozy is hoping to sign a nuclear energy accord with India during a visit this month. Argentina, Chile, Vietnam and Indonesia also are reportedly discussing the possibility of buying French-designed reactors.

But it is his agreements with the Middle East that have drawn the most attention. "This is the first time an intergovernmental nuclear accord of this importance has been signed in the Gulf, and it is a very big development," said Anne Lauvergeon, who heads France's nuclear giant, Areva. The company will help build the two reactors in Abu Dhabi, the wealthiest of the seven emirates.

She said the contracts will be worth billions of dollars but declined to cite a specific amount.

Sarkozy's sales trip came just after the Gulf Cooperation Council, a political and economic alliance of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E., announced that it planned to have a joint nuclear program operational by 2025.

With oil prices hitting record levels -- bouncing up to $100 a barrel last month before settling at the current $90 level -- many of the wealthy Arab oil exporters are enjoying unprecedented economic development. That is straining power grids and stretching capacities for desalinated water in many of the desert Gulf states.

Those rapidly expanding energy demands, coupled with warnings that oil reserves could be depleted in four to five decades, have prompted the oil-rich states to consider nuclear power alternatives.

"Forty years from now there will be no oil left, and in 100 years, no more gas," Sarkozy told reporters on the trip, adding that he believes nuclear power will be the replacement. "It is the energy of the future."

But some analysts say that nuclear development is likely to heighten military tensions and drive a regional arms race. Already the advanced state of Iran's civilian energy programs have generated allegations by the United States, France and others that Iran aspires to develop nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

"If you tell Arab nations they are not allowed civilian nuclear power because they are Arab, you give an extraordinary bonus to Iran, which has made that its whole argument," Sarkozy said on the recent Middle Eastern trip.

Researcher Corinne Gavard contributed to this report.