UAE becomes first peaceful nuclear-operating nation in Arab world

ALMOST COMPLETE: Construction of the remaining units of the Barakah power plant is now in the final stages. - Wam File

With nuclear fuel assemblies loaded into the Unit 1 of Barakah power plant, the UAE has officially become the first peaceful nuclear energy operator in the Arab world, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) announced on Tuesday.
The Emirates joins a limited group of countries that have successfully developed the infrastructure and capability to use nuclear energy to generate safe, clean, and reliable electricity.
"Our teams have been training over the years to safely progress towards providing the UAE with clean, reliable and abundant electricity to power our economic and societal growth," said Mohamed Al Hammadi, CEO of Enec.
The milestone was crossed this week, following the safe completion of the process to load fuel assemblies into the Unit 1 reactor. The fuel load was overseen by the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR). Highly trained and FANR-certified fuel operators - with over 90 per cent participation of Emirati experts - led the transfer and loading of the 241 fuel assemblies into Unit 1.
"Our teams are now safely and steadily transitioning through the sophisticated, highly regulated process to advance Unit 1 towards full electrical generation capacity," Al Hammadi said.
Ready for the next stage
With the fuel load complete, the next step will be for the teams of Nawah, the operations and maintenance subsidiary of Enec, and the Korea Electric Power Corporation to start operating the plant.
In this next process - known as power ascension testing - systems of Unit 1 are gradually tested to move into full electricity production.
"Barakah is more than an energy plant ... it significantly improves the carbon footprint and energy security of the nation and accelerates decarbonisation to contribute to alleviating climate change," Al Hammadi said.
Enec is currently in the final stages of construction for the remaining three units of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant in Abu Dhabi's Al Dhafra region. The overall construction of the four units is more than 93 per cent complete.