UAE to operate first N-reactor in 2018

operate

ABU DHABI / Reuters

The United Arab Emirates’ first nuclear reactor will ‘definitely’ be operational next year with the operating company getting a licence in 2018, the UAE’s energy minister said on Monday.
The world’s largest single nuclear project, the Barakah plant will have capacity of 5,600 megawatts (MW) of electricity, with four 1400 MW reactors.
Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) is building the four APR-1400 reactors simultaneously.
The UAE was forced to delay the start-up by a year as the company set up to run it had not yet received an operating licence to ensure sufficient time for international assessments and safety standards, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Company (ENEC) said in May.
The first reactor at Barakah is 96 percent complete now and is in the final stages of commissioning, Suhail Al Mazroui told reporters.
“Nawah will get the licence next year and the opening of the first reactor is definitely next year,” he said, without giving a specific date.
Nawah is a joint venture between ENEC and KEPCO set up to run the plant.
The second and third reactors are 86 percent and 76 percent complete, while the fourth is 54 percent done.
Nuclear power will contribute about 25 percent of the UAE’s green energy mix by 2021 when all four reactors are completed. It will account for about 50 percent by 2050 along with solar power, Al-Mazroui said, adding that growth in demand for electricity in the UAE ranges between 6 and 8 percent annually.

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