ENEC applies for operating licences

1 April 2015



The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) has submitted the operating licence application for Barakah 1&2, the initial phase of UAE's first nuclear plant which is under construction in the western region of Abu Dhabi.

The submittal of the 15,000-page document for evaluation by the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) in March follows a five-year process and considerable work by ENEC, the reactor supplier Korea Electric Power Corporation and other international experts.

The licence application is a collection of documents including: ENEC's final safety analysis report; an independent safety verification and design review; details of ENEC's physical protection plan, facility safeguards plan, operational quality assurance manual, and emergency plan; a probabilistic risk assessment summary report; and a severe accident analysis report. It also includes a safety assessment report for Barakah, which provides updated information, as well as detailed lessons learned from the accident at Fukushima Daiichi.

“This is a very important stage in the development of the UAE peaceful nuclear energy programme," commented Mohamed Al Hammadi, ENEC's chief executive officer. "The successful and on-time submission of this operating licence application is a crucial milestone in our journey to becoming fully operational in 2017."

ENEC hopes to receive an operating licence for Barakah 1 in 2016. The lead reactor is now more than 69% complete and remains on schedule for completion in 2017. Additional units will follow at 12-month intervals, with Barakah 4 set to commence commercial operations in 2020, pending regulatory approvals, ENEC said.

Once completed the four APR-1400 reactors will have a combined capacity of 5.6GW, and will be capable of meeting around a quarter of the UAE's electricity needs.



Privacy Policy
We have updated our privacy policy. In the latest update it explains what cookies are and how we use them on our site. To learn more about cookies and their benefits, please view our privacy policy. Please be aware that parts of this site will not function correctly if you disable cookies. By continuing to use this site, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with our privacy policy unless you have disabled them.