This week, the U.A.E. completed fuel loading on Unit 1 of Barakah Nuclear Power Plant. Once all four units of this plant are complete, it will eventually provide for one quarter of the U.A.E.’s energy needs. This development was made possible by the landmark “123 Agreement” between the U.S. and U.A.E. Please see below for key stories about the 123 Agreement and other important milestones in the U.A.E.’s historic peaceful nuclear energy program.
A Successful Mideast Nuclear Deal
The United Arab Emirates Finishes loading fuel in its new civilian nuclear power plant
By Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba
4 March 2020
Wall Street Journal
The Middle East nuclear agreement is working well. It contains the strongest commitments ever agreed to for nonproliferation and transparency and no pathway to weaponization. No, not that nuclear deal.
On March 3, the United Arab Emirates announced it had finished loading fuel into Unit 1 of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant. When all four units become operational, the plant will provide up to 25% of the U.A.E.’s electricity with zero carbon emissions.
The seeds for this ambitious project were planted 10 years ago, when the U.S. and U.A.E. signed the strongest bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement in history. The deal wasn’t a sure thing. As negotiations progressed during the final year of President George W. Bush’s administration, the nonproliferation community was concerned. Skeptics feared the Middle East was ill-suited for a peaceful nuclear program. Arms-control experts argued that if Iran used its program as cover for building a nuclear bomb, the U.A.E. could too. For the full story please follow this link.
UAE becomes first peaceful nuclear operating nation in Arab world
3 March 2020
Emirates News Agency – WAM
The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, ENEC, announced today that, following the successful completion of fuel assembly loading into Unit 1, the UAE has officially become a peaceful nuclear energy operating nation.
The UAE has also become the first country in the Arab World to achieve this status, joining a limited group of countries worldwide that have successfully developed the intellectual and infrastructural capacity to use nuclear energy to generate safe, clean, and reliable baseload electricity.
The milestone was achieved this week, following the safe and quality-driven completion of the process to load fuel assemblies into the Unit 1 reactor, which commenced after the receipt of the Operating Licence from the UAE Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation, FANR, in February. For the full story please follow this link.
The U.A.E. gets green light to operate the Arab world’s first nuclear power plant
By Natasha Turak
17 February 2020
CNBC
The independent nuclear regulator for the United Arab Emirates issued the operating license for Unit 1 of the country’s Barakah Nuclear Power Plant, giving the go-ahead on operations for the first nuclear power plant in the Arab world.
The project, which national officials describe as a strategic and economic imperative for the UAE, is more than a decade in the making and involved collaboration with external bodies including the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the government of South Korea.
“Today’s announcement is another milestone for the UAE, culminating efforts of 12 years towards the development of the UAE Nuclear Energy Programme to which the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) played a significant role to turn this vision into a reality,” Hamad al Kaabi, the UAE’s permanent representative to the IAEA, told media at a briefing in Abu Dhabi. For the full story please follow this link.
Experts say UAE’s first nuclear reactor is ready to start operations
Atlanta Centre of the World Association of Nuclear Operators gives Barakah Unit 1 the green light
By Sam Bridge
29 January 2020
Arabian Business
The first nuclear reactor at the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant in Abu Dhabi is ready to start operations, it was announced on Tuesday.
The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) and its subsidiary Nawah Energy Company revealed that an extensive operational readiness assessment performed by an international team of nuclear industry experts from the Atlanta Centre of the World Association of Nuclear Operators has given Unit 1 the go-ahead.The WANO Pre-start Up Review is a globally-recognised nuclear industry assessment which is conducted in line with the international industry standards, state news agency WAM reported. For the full story please follow this link.
U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council and Nuclear Energy Institute Host Industry Luncheon in Washington, D.C.
16 January 2020
U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council
On Thursday January 16 the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council and Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) hosted a luncheon in honor of a visiting delegation from Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) led by its CEO, H.E. Eng. Mohamed Al Hammadi. This luncheon commemorated the 10-year anniversary of the 123 Agreement.
At this U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council Danny Sebright recalled the Business Council’s long history of engagement in support of this landmark U.A.E. program since the inception of the program and effort in Washington to negotiate the 123 Agreement. For the full story please follow this link.
For more information about the U.A.E.’s peaceful nuclear energy program, please see the Business Council’s report on Clean and Alternative Energy in the U.A.E.
