Foreign firms will construct a nuclear reactor in Yemen to help this Arab country to deal with the growing shortfall of electricity supplies. The Arabic press quoted Yemen's electricity and energy minister, Mustafa Yehya, as saying: "Specialized international firms will build the strategic nuclear reactor that Yemen seeks to own for producing electricity."
The minister, who made the comments in a lecture he delivered in the southeastern city of Mukalla, said the Yemeni government's drive towards nuclear power generation was based on the economic feasibility of this technology. He did not provide details of the proposed location for the plant or when it would be built.
Yemen suffers a severe shortage of power supply and thus locals encounter daily power outages. All in all, the entire power production capacity of the country's two main power plants hits about 900 MW, which serves only about half of the population.
