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Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation adds two nuclear simulators

With the addition of two new nuclear simulators, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation’s (Enec) training centre is now complete and ready to take in students.

The Simulator Training Centre (STC), located at Barakah in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi, UAE’s nuclear energy plants site, is a 7,000 square metre facility that utilises ultramodern technology and equipment, which will be used to train Enec employees.

Officials of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation at the inauguration of its Simulator Training Centre (STC) at Barakah in the Western Region, the site of the UAE’s nuclear energy plants. — Supplied photo

“Our state-of-the-art simulators are designed to replicate real scenarios and processes that our reactor operators will face every day. This form of training has proved to be reliable and successful in some of the most advanced industries worldwide,” said Mohamed Al Hammadi, chief executive officer of Enec.

The new simulators, which are among the world’s most advanced nuclear training devices and the first of their kind in the Middle East, will complement Enec’s comprehensive training programme and help Enec to prepare its scholarship students to attain Reactor Operator (RO) and Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) certifications. They will also provide continuous training for Enec’s working SROs.

Each student requires more than 800 hours of advanced simulator training to receive the SRO certification, which is controlled and issued by the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation in the UAE. This training is part of a preliminary training programme Enec runs for its SROs and is in addition to the 2,000 hours of official training the operators undertake.

The two simulators are identical to the plant’s main control room, each consisting of a large display panel that highlights the most important parameters for operators’ quick reference, and five operator stations from which ROs can consult any system within the plant.

They replicate the actual conditions and environment that the nuclear reactor operators would experience in a real time situation. They also provide students with the opportunity to experience accident situations that they would normally not be exposed to in day-to-day operations.

The APR1400 simulators are considered among the most advanced in the world due to the complexity of both the core modelling and the instrumentation and control systems.

“Safety is and will remain our prime concern and highly trained and prepared reactor operators are critical to the safety of our plants,” added Al Hammadi.

Enec has recently been granted approval for additional civil works relating to two more nuclear plants, Barakah units 3 and 4, under its Limited Construction Licence.

This approval will help to ensure that the units remain on schedule to enter commercial operations in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

The first two units are now more than 40 per cent complete, the construction being on time and within budget. Unit 1 is scheduled to enter commercial operations in 2017, and unit 2 is scheduled for operations in 2018, pending regulatory approvals. Enec will apply for an Operating Licence for units 1 and 2 in 2015.

silvia@khaleejtimes.com