His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, visited the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, to witness the significant safety-led progress being made on the Arab World’s first peaceful nuclear energy plant, which is a key driver of the UAE’s transition to a new clean energy era, and supporting the diversification of energy sources.

Sheikh Mohamed was accompanied during the visit by Sheikh Nahyan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation, Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Adviser to His Highness President of the UAE, Dr Sultan Bin Ahmad Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of State, and Mohamed Mubarak Al Mazrouei, Under-Secretary of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court.

His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan was welcomed by Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, ENEC, Mohamed Al Hammadi, CEO of ENEC, Ali Al Hammadi, CEO of Nawah Energy Company (Nawah), and Nasser Al Nasseri, CEO of Barakah One Company, for a tour of the plant, which will soon start generating clean electricity 24/7 for the UAE.

Beyond clean energy, the Barakah plant is an engine of growth for the nation, through the creation of highly skilled careers and a new industrial sector to support the operation of the plant for the next six decades that it will operate.

To commence the visit, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed and his delegation received a briefing on the historic milestones achieved over the past eleven years by ENEC and its subsidiaries Nawah and Barakah One Company, alongside its key partners the Korea Electric Power Corporation, KEPCO, ENEC’s Joint Venture Partner, and Korea Hydro and Electric Power, KHNP, since his visit in 2018 to witness the construction completion of Unit 1.

Following the briefing, the delegation visited the Main Control Room of Unit 1, which is in the advanced stages of testing in preparation for start-up. This will be a major step forward for the UAE as it will produce clean electricity from nuclear energy for the first time in the nation’s history.

His Highness met the operating crew, comprising UAE national and international experts, who are certified and licensed to safely operate and control the reactor. The crew presented their operations process and expressed their commitment to deliver and operate the Barakah plant in line with the highest standards of quality and safety.

As part of the visit, His Highness also toured Units 2-4 of the plant where ENEC CEO Al Hammadi announced another key milestone: the construction completion of Unit 2, which has been completed in accordance with the highest global standards of quality and safety. The plant will be handed over to Nawah Energy Company to complete all of the operational readiness preparations as part of the process towards receipt of the Operating Licence from the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation, FANR.

The visit follows on from the achievement of a number of recent historic milestones. In February 2020, Nawah, ENEC’s operating and maintenance subsidiary for the Barakah plant, received the Operating Licence for Unit 1, and following the successful loading of the first fuel assemblies in March 2020, the UAE became the first nuclear operating nation in the Arab World, and the 33rd nation globally, to achieve the advanced technical expertise required to utilise this highly specialised, powerful form of peaceful clean energy.

Sheikh Mohamed stressed that the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant is a historically significant project for the UAE that will cement its leading position and role in the growing clean energy sector. He reiterated the leadership’s support for the UAE Peaceful Nuclear Energy Programme and the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, which is the cornerstone of the programme. He also recognised the economic and social importance of the programme for the UAE, in addition to the project’s contribution in tackling the challenges posed by climate change regionally and worldwide.

WAM