The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, ENEC, announced on Tuesday 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.

“Our teams have been training over the years to safely progress towards providing the UAE with clean, reliable and abundant electricity to power our economic and societal growth. Today, we are very proud as the UAE joins a limited group of nations who have achieved the global standards necessary to become peaceful nuclear operating nations” said Mohamed Al Hammadi, Chief Executive Officer of ENEC. “We take this responsibility very seriously and our teams are safely and steadily transitioning through the sophisticated, highly-regulated process to advance Unit 1 towards full electrical generation capacity.” The fuel load was led by a team of highly-trained and FANR-certified fuel operators, with over 90 per cent participation of Emirati experts who were previously trained in the APR-1400 technology in South Korea.

This team led the transfer and load of the 241 fuel assemblies into Unit 1 which concluded earlier this week.

“The fact that the loading of the fuel assemblies has been achieved by a team with over 90 per cent experienced and certified Emiratis is an important reflection that nuclear energy is an engine of growth for the UAE,” continued Al Hammadi. “Barakah is more than an energy plant, it brings prosperity and value to the UAE with new industrial and human capacity, it significantly improves the carbon footprint and energy security of the nation, and accelerates the decarbonisation of the power sector to contribute to alleviating global climate change.”