UAE issued license for operating first nuclear plant in the Arab world
Barakah nuclear power plant should generate electricity later this year.
The reactor was constructed by KEPCO (Korea Electric Power Corporation) for few billions of dollars. The plant was originally due to open in 2017, yet the start was postponed few times.
UAE no longer intents to rely on energy from fossil sources, mainly on petroleum. Its aim is to increase share of nuclear energy in the overall energy consumption in 6% till 2050. Nawah Energy Company, the plant’s operator, received a 60-year operating license.
According to the regulator, Nawah Energy Company can now begin to load fuel into the reactor in preparation for operation. The process may take 2-3 months, then testing will start. Once finished, the project will have four reactors with a total capacity of 5,600 megawatts. For now, only 2 of them are ready. The reactor should fully work until the end of this year. Investors did not publish the overall costs for four reactors.
