RIYADH, 24 March 2008 — The Shoura Council has discussed a national plan to deal with any potential leakage of radioactive material in the Kingdom following warnings of possible attacks on Iran’s nuclear reactors.

“The plan to check radiation hazards was discussed by Shoura members, but it will be discussed and reviewed again before being tabled for voting,” a Shoura Council member said yesterday.

“The King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology (KACST) has prepared a proposal that encapsulates the probabilities of a nuclear and radiation leak in case of any unexpected attacks,” said the Shoura member, speaking on condition of anonymity.

This concern has also been echoed several times by Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal in his meetings with regional and international leaders. “Riyadh has been of the view that the Middle East region should be void of weapons of mass destruction,” said the member, without giving details of the Saudi plan.

A KACST nuclear scientist yesterday confirmed that an emergency plan to check radioactive leaks is there in place, but refused to provide details. He said that a national strategy has been prepared by KACST’s Atomic Energy Research Institute, set up by the Kingdom in 1988.

On the regional front, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has also been discussing the pros and cons of Iran’s nuclear program.

Power plants in the southwestern Iranian port of Bushehr, built with German assistance in 1974 and which resumed with Russian aid in 1992, have been the focus of global attention. The Gulf region as a whole is at a serious risk of a catastrophe due to military nuclear-powered and armed ships and submarines entering Gulf waters.

“Vessels come and go as they please with no one to monitor them,” said Dr. Abdulrehman Al-Awadhi, executive secretary of the Kuwait-based Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment (ROPME).

“If there is a radiation leak in any of these vessels, it would spell disaster for the area,” he said, adding for the need to set up a framework to detect radiation. “The problem is that there are no measures that are in place to monitor these ships. While it is true that those on board the vessels would be affected, the damage to people like you and me, and the effects on the region’s fragile ecology would be tremendous,” said Al-Awadhi.

He added that there were only two ports in the whole US where nuclear powered ships were allowed to dock.

“This is done under very strict monitoring in the US,” he said, adding that all ships in Norway that enter the country’s waters are screened for radiation.

“Nothing like that happens anywhere in the Gulf. Radiation is an invisible, silent threat. It has no smell, no color and cannot be felt. The only way to detect it is to have special monitoring equipment. ... The Gulf region is so small and a leak in Bahrain could have a disastrous effect in Saudi Arabia or vice versa,” Al-Awadhi said.

He also said that any attack on Iran’s nuclear facility by the US or Israel could have very serious repercussions. “To say that such a facility will be free of risk is not right,” said the Arab scientist, adding that a mild earthquake in Japan recently had resulted in the closure of a nuclear power plant.

“Our concerns are regarding how to detect the presence of radioactive sources, prevent illicit use of such materials, respond to accidental radiation leaks and how to dispose of radioactive waste,” he said.