An Iraqi official revealed that Iraq is studying options for producing electrical energy using modern technologies in the field of nuclear power plants.

Munir Kazim, Deputy Head of the Iraqi Atomic Energy Authority, said on Monday that "Iraq is studying the transfer of some modern technologies from a number of countries that have advanced industries in the field of nuclear power plants to produce electrical energy."

He added that "Iraq, through the Atomic Energy Authority and a specialized committee composed of top-level officials, is following up on setting standards and preliminary studies for nuclear power plants to produce electrical energy. Among the most important matters being prepared are a site selection study, in addition to coordination with the Ministry of Water Resources to study water levels and potential sites," according to the German news agency DPA.

Appropriate designs for the plants are also being studied based on the availability of water levels in Iraq, as well as ongoing meetings with the Ministry of Electricity to study options that could enable the transfer of these advanced technologies in this field according to international standards.

Kazim said that "the issue is among strategic priorities that need to be studied carefully and goes through several stages, in coordination with the International Atomic Energy Agency."

Iraq has been facing a major shortage in electrical energy production for more than 35 years due to the wars the country has waged and the failure of successive governments to control financial corruption that affected Iraq's contracts to resolve this sector's file, despite financial allocations exceeding $100 billion.

The Iraqi government uses a programmed rationing system to distribute electrical energy for limited hours due to the severe shortage in electrical energy production, which currently reaches about 20,000 megawatts amid rising demand of about 50,000 megawatts.

Residents, factory owners, and workshops resort to installing private power stations or buying electrical energy from private stations to make up for the shortage. Recently, the production of electrical energy using solar energy systems has also expanded to meet daily requirements.

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