What began as a technology to build the most terrifying weapons known to man now offers some hope of resolving one of humanity's greatest threats - climate change.
The fact that atomic energy produces no carbon has always been a major selling point for the Emirates, which currently has one of the highest carbon footprints per capita in the world.
But nuclear power does come with other environmental dangers, as we have witnessed this year in Japan. Even without a huge earthquake and tsunami, nuclear power produces toxic waste, which must be managed over extremely long periods.
Even the world's most experienced nuclear nations have not definitively resolved the problem of long-term waste management.
Questions remain over whether the waste should ultimately be buried in stable geological structures deep inside the earth or even carried into space.
For now, the waste is reprocessed into new fuel where possible and then stored in containment vessels at protected sites several miles away from large population centres.
With the problem of nuclear waste comes a duty on the part of the industry to inform the public about the risks posed by radiation.
For an industry that was born under the veil of military secrecy during the Second World War, this is a big challenge.
The Emirates has promised "full operational transparency" as one of several features that marked its energy project as a gold standard for new nuclear development worldwide.
This means that nuclear officials and executives must constantly challenge themselves to open their work to scrutiny, both by regulators and the public.
While sharing their experiences with national regulators, global inspectors, foreign contractors and suppliers, they must also reach out to the public regularly to foster an understanding of the risks and rewards of the atomic revolution.
The development of nuclear power is without doubt a great technological innovation that can deliver highly efficient, carbon-free power.
But its development and acceptance are under question after the Japanese disaster.
In the end, a nuclear programme can be viewed as totally successful only if the people of a nation fully accept it, in full knowledge of the risks and rewards.
