Many countries in the Middle East are considering nuclear power, hoping to free up petroleum reserves for export, and also to balance Iran's nuclear ambitions. Among others, regional heavyweights Egypt, Saudi Arabia, as well as the other Gulf Cooperation Council countries -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates -- have expressed interest in nuclear power. But building nuclear power plants is an expensive proposition, and not all countries can afford the costs.

The government of Yemen is planning to build five nuclear power plants over 10 years, according to news reports from Sanaa. Work would start in 2009, and they would supply a total of 5,000 megawatts to the country, at an estimated cost of $15 billion.

Such spending seems unlikely in a country the World Bank described as "one of the least developed countries in the world." Currently Yemen produces about 1,000 megawatts of electricity, but faced with chronic shortages, it has plans for several gas-fired power plants that would provide between 340 and 3,800 megawatts, according to the Energy Information Administration, the data arm of the U.S. Department of Energy.

While oil and natural gas provide an overwhelming amount of government revenue, Yemen is in desperate need of new sources of power and income. Oil exports account for 74 percent of government revenue and 33 percent of its $19.1 billion gross domestic product. The country's oil reserves will be depleted by 2014, according to estimates by the World Bank.

Yemen's interest in nuclear power has been longstanding, but its relatively small government revenue, as well as the country's instability, made it unlikely. The recent deals would have to overcome those obstacles if Sanaa hopes to embrace nuclear power.

Rebel groups in the country have often targeted energy infrastructure in Yemen. In 2006 coordinated suicide attacks against oil facilities were thwarted by security forces, but in 2002 the French oil tanker Limburg was bombed off the coast of Yemen. And that same year a missile was fired at a helicopter owned by a U.S. oil company.

In fact, energy facilities have proven such a tempting target in the region that Saudi Arabia announced in August the creation of a 35,000-person dedicated security force to protect its oil and gas facilities.

For its part, Jordan has long expressed an interest in nuclear power as well. At the end of August, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khalid Touqan told King Abdullah that nuclear power would provide Jordan with 30 percent of its power by 2030, according to the state-run news agency Petra.

And the U.S. Embassy in Amman on Sept. 16 announced that it would help Jordan reach that goal.

In a memorandum of understanding signed by energy officials from both countries during a ministerial meeting in Vienna, they agreed to cooperate on all aspects of Jordan's efforts to embrace civilian nuclear power. The agreement falls under the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, a U.S. initiative that aims to reduce the risks of nuclear proliferation while encouraging peaceful nuclear power worldwide.

Although Jordan's GDP per person is about four times that of Yemen, Jordan's energy situation differs drastically. It imports 95 percent of its energy needs and has no significant oil deposits, according to the EIA. Jordan has about 230 billion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, and its one developed field powers a plant that provides the country with about 8 percent of its electricity, according to the EIA.

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