UAE’s Barakah nuclear plant an ‘important milestone’ for generating clean energy, says IAEA – The National

UAE’s Barakah nuclear plant an ‘important milestone’ for generating clean energy, says IAEA – The National

Unit 1 was successfully switched on for the first time on Saturday

















































Some of the Emirati staff behind the nuclear project, which has been more than a decade in the making. All photos courtesy of FANR







The UAE's nuclear regulator issued an operating licence for the first reactor at Barakah in February 2020







Delivering the project has been a feat of engineering. As many as 18,000 people worked on the project at the height of construction.







Fifty-three Emiratis have recently been certified as senior reactor operators and many more will be needed in coming years







There is growing interest among new Emirati graduates to enter the nuclear training programmes







Nuclear plays a significant part in targets to reduce gas-fired power generation to 38 per cent by 2050, along with renewable energy from solar and some clean coal.







"The nuclear programme has huge upfront costs to provide a certain level of security," Hamad Al Kaabi said. "But once you make that investment in the construction of