In October 2015, former Energy Minister Abdelkader Amara announced Morocco’s intent to integrate nuclear energy into the Moroccan energy mix on the occasion of the visit of an expert mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The Atomic Energy (IAEA). The visit covered some 20 areas covering technical, regulatory, safety and security aspects, radioactive waste management, human resources, communication and other aspects.
“Convinced of the important role of nuclear energy in reducing national energy dependency, combating greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating the effects of climate change and desalination of seawater, Morocco considers nuclear power as an option to consider in the long-term national energy mix.
“This option would also offer valuable benefits over the long term to address the problems of water stress and its impact on the economy and the populations that our country could face in the future,” Amara said.
The Minister noted that Morocco is taking this option into account in its long-term forecasts from 2030 onwards, in the context of the development of alternative energies, including oil shale, biomass, geothermal and marine energies.
The IAEA delivered on March 2016 the final report from Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) mission, which assesses the strengths and weaknesses of Moroccan capabilities in the nuclear field and to examine the conditions and requirements at the political, institutional and institutional levels, on the basis of experience, benchmarks and future national and international energy issues , Legal and technological as well as human resources, necessary for the realization of a nuclear power program.
Morocco depends on 96% of the resources of other countries (cost of 8 Billion USD per year) and faces the rising demand for electricity and the growth of the population, the use of nuclear energy is essential according to the Aziz Rebbah, Minister of Energy, who is supporting the cooperation with Rosatom for the construction of a plant at Sidi Boulbra.
