The Gulf Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Institute (GNEII) After Three Years

Established in 2011, the Gulf Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Institute (GNEII) recently completed its third year of operations, including the third offering of its signature GNEII Fundamentals Course. GNEII provides a regional mechanism for developing human resources for responsible nuclear energy programs. GNEII’s mission is to engender, through professional development and education of decision makers from Gulf-region nuclear-energy programs, a responsible nuclear-energy culture, including institutionalized safety, security and safeguards norms. GNEII is a strategic partnership among several UAE and USA entities, supported in part by the US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration Office of Nonproliferation and International Security and the US Department of State’s Partnership for Nuclear Security. Sandia National Laboratories and Texas A&M University’s Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute (NSSPI) are the US implementers working with Khalifa University in the UAE, where GNEII is located. GNEII is predicated on three “pillars” that include an educational component, a research component and a technological component. With culmination of the 2013 GNEII Fundamentals Course, a total of 47 Fellows from UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and Jordan have completed the course. GNEII will continue to expand its educational, research and technological capabilities, as well as its reach throughout the region