UAE licenses second unit of Barakah nuclear power plant (updated)

Korea Electric Power

09/03/2021 07:48

(Adds detail, context)
    By Lisa Barrington
    DUBAI, March 9 (Reuters) - The nuclear regulator in United
Arab Emirates has issued an operating licence for the second
unit of the Barakah nuclear power plant, an official from the
regulator said on Tuesday.
    The plant in the Al Dhafrah region of Abu Dhabi, one of the
seven emirates making up the UAE and the nation's capital, is
the first nuclear power station in the Arab world and part of
the Gulf oil producer's efforts to diversify its energy mix.
    Barakah's Unit 1 was connected to the national power grid in
August and in December reached 100% of reactor power capacity
during testing. 
    Unit 1's commercial operations are expected to start this
year, Hamad Al Kaabi, deputy chairman of Federal Authority for
Nuclear Regulation (FANR) and the UAE's representative at the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told journalists. 
    The project has faced delays, some related to training staff
as the country builds a nuclear industry from scratch. 
    Construction on Unit 1 began in 2012 and the plant was
expected to start up in 2017, but FANR did not grant a licence
to the operator Nawah Energy Company until February 2020. 
    Nawah first applied to FANR for licences for the two units
in 2015. 
    When completed Barakah, which is being built by Korea
Electric Power Corp (KEPCO)  015760.KS , will have four reactors
with 5,600 megawatts (MW) of total capacity - equivalent to
around 25% of the UAE's peak demand. 
    Construction of Unit 3 is 94% complete and Unit 4 is 87%
complete, Kaabi said.
    Asked about security at the plant, Kaabi said measures were
in place to protect the site from physical and cyber threats. He
did not provide details.
    The Houthi movement in Yemen, where the UAE was embroiled in
a conflict for several years, said in 2017 it had fired a
missile towards the plant. The UAE authorities denied this.

 (Reporting by Lisa Barrington and Alexander Cornwell; Editing
by Christopher Cushing and Edmund Blair)
 ((lisa.barrington@thomsonreuters.com;))