UAE’s first nuclear power plant to begin operating this spring
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has taken its last step before becoming the first Arab country capable of producing nuclear power, after the country’s regulator approved licenses to transport and store nuclear fuel.
The Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) said early this week it had issued two licenses, one to the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) for the transport of unirradiated nuclear fuel to the Barakah power plant site in the country’s Western Region, and the second to the Nawah Energy Company, which will operate the plant, for the handling and storage of the fuel at Barakah unit 1.
According to FANR, the licenses were approved in mid-December after completing assessments and readiness inspections to ensure the license applications met safety, security, and safeguards requirements. The agency said the shipment would be sent by sea from South Korea before it is inspected on arrival and taken to the Barakah site.
Christer Viktorsson, FANR’s director general, called the announcement a “major milestone for us because we’ve worked diligently during months to make us convinced that everything is ready to transport and store fuel”.
“One of the principles of the UAE’s nuclear power program is operational transparency,” Mr Viktorsson said. “This is an effort by FANR to keep the public informed about the important decisions it is making.”
Ian Grant, FANR’s deputy director general, said Enec already had fuel for the site and is running systems to check its equipment and readiness. If everything goes to plan, the reactor should become operational in May.
“Once we have authorization to load the fuel, there would be a period of about another six or seven months of testing and gradually increasing power,” he said.
“The current schedule is May but we’re not bound by that schedule … We expect further inspections from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which will make sure the fuel is used for peaceful purposes only.”
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