The UAE’s Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) and Russian nuclear trading company Techsnabexport (Tenex – part of state nuclear corporation Rosatom) on 12 September renewed a 2017 memorandum of understanding on exploring potential opportunities for collaboration in nuclear fuel cycle management.
Enec said renewal of the MOU comes within the framework of its strategy of working with international companies based in countries with established nuclear energy programmes, and cooperating with responsible nations to benefit from the global cumulative experience of the nuclear energy industry.
The original MOU set up a framework for potential future cooperation in the field of innovative nuclear fuel cycle solutions, including the management and disposal of radioactive waste.
In April, a delegation from Enec, led by Mohamed Abdalla Chookah, vice president of fuel, waste, research and development, visited the Mining and Chemical Combine complex at Zheleznogorsk in the Krasnoyarsk region of Russia.
The Enec delegation was shown a wet storage facility for used fuel assemblies and visited a pilot centre for the reprocessing of used fuel.
Enec is overseeing the construction of the UAE's first nuclear power plant - four Korean-designed APR1400 reactors at Barakah in Abu Dhabi.
Chookah noted that the UAE is in the process of developing its long-term spent fuel management policy, and "continues to review several options for managing spent fuel."
