Iraq: $20bn Kuwait nuclear plant will harm Iraqis

Kuwait has signed a $20bn contract with a French company to build a nuclear power plant at Warba Island.

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Iraq has expressed concern about Kuwait's $20bn plan to build a nuclear reactor at Warba Island, stating that it would “harm Iraqis”, reports Kuwait Times.

A member of the White Iraqi Bloc, MP Alya Naseef, urged the Iraqi government to act immediately and prevent Kuwait from building the reactor that lies in close proximity to Iraqi borders.

Naseef said this step would save half a million Iraqis from being displaced in an attempt to escape radioactive pollution in the event of any catastrophic accident.

She noted that while the plant will be 30km away from the closest Kuwaiti inhabited area, it will only be 500m away from the nearest Iraqi inhabited area.

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“Kuwait’s nuclear reactor at Warba Island is located less than half a kilometre away from the Iraqi port of Um Qasr,” stressed Naseef.

Iraq has also recently raised objections to Kuwait’s planned construction of Mubarak Al-Kabeer port, which Naseef said “will suffocate Iraqi navigation.”