UAE readies to operate its first nuclear reactor

ABU DHABI: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is ready to start operating its nuclear power plant's first reactor, Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) said on Tuesday.

The unit 1 of Barakah nuclear plant in the Abu Dhabi desert is ready to generate energy, according to UAE media.

The UAE is the 33rd country in the world and the first in the Arab world to have an advanced peaceful nuclear energy programme.

According to the UAE media reports, a team of nuclear industry experts from the Atlanta Centre of the World Association of Nuclear Operators assessed the plant in November. Experts reviewed performance, maintenance, and emergency preparedness. The Barakah plant has been built by a consortium led by the Korea Electric Power Corporation, in a deal worth over $20 billion and has four reactors. The work on the second reactor is now 95 per cent complete. The third reactor is 92 percent complete and the fourth is 83 percent complete, the Enec said.