Bill Gates thinks MENA can be a hub for nuclear: Bill Gates emphasized the impact MENA nuclear power projects — such as the Barakah nuclear energy plant in the UAE — have in helping accelerate the transition to low-carbon energy sources, the National reports the Microsoft founder as having said at an event last Thursday. “The nuclear reactors at the Barakah power plant that are operational and pumping electricity into the grid are examples of how the country is managing the transition thoughtfully,” he said at the Economist Impact’s Sustainability Week in Abu Dhabi. He also called upon major oil-producing nations to explore cleaner ways to extract hydrogen.

He’s even suggesting the region could leapfrog into fusion: MENA could lead by developing nuclear fusion reactors that “are safe and cheaper than traditional energy sources,” he noted.

SOUND SMART- What is nuclear fusion? In short, nuclear fusion is a reaction that could potentially generate unlimited energy by fusing the nuclei of atoms — as opposed to splitting the nuclei of an atom in a conventional nuclear fission reaction. Fusion reactions, which power the stars, need temperatures equivalent to 100-200 mn C, so, until very recently, it had been relegated to the realm of science fiction. Recent advancements in the technology, however, are slowly suggesting that controlled fusion reactions may be within reach — to the point that the UK greenlit the world’s first fusion station last week. The caveat: The UK government said that there are “no guarantees” that the GBP 20 bn plant, which is set to be complete in 2040, will work.

Chernobyl (and the Simpsons) gave nuclear a bad name, but remember, that was in the 80s: Nuclear energy in general has had a bad rep, thanks to incidents like Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and more recently, Fukushima. But the damage from these incidents has been exaggerated. 43 people, in total, died as a result of long-term radiation from Chernobyl over the span of 25 years, according to a 2008 UN report (pdf). That’s out of around 350k people that had to be evacuated from the area. That’s been in large part due to the safety measures and precautions in place back then.

Safety measures, as well as data collection and sharing, have also gotten better over time, and continue to do so, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (pdf). The lack of any major incidents since Fukushima in 2011 (which resulted from an earthquake and tsunami) speaks volumes to safety.

The UAE’s Barakah is an example of nuclear done right: The 5.6 GW nuclear power plant — the region’s first multi-unit nuclear power plant — has gotten a thumbs up from IAEA safety inspectors as recently as last month. Barakah “had strengthened operational safety by fully addressing the findings of an initial IAEA safety review mission five years ago,” the IAEA said. Furthermore, the Emirati Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), which owns Barakah, signed an MoU with the UAE Cyber Security Council yesterday to ensure cyber security response at its facilities. The plant recently inaugurated its third 1.4 GW unit, which was connected to the national grid over the weekend.

And the region is not far behind: Egypt kickstarted construction on its USD 30 bn Dabaa nuclear power plant in July of this year. The 4.8 GW was expected to be fully operational in 2029, with the first of four 1.4 GW reactors expected to come online in 2026. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has taken steps this year toward getting a nuclear energy program underway. The country is currently studying a viable location for a plant, after establishing a holding company to develop nuclear power back in March.