FANR awards Nawah licence to operate Barakah Nuclear Plant's Unit 2

The Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) has issued the operating licence for Unit 2 of the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant to the Nawah Energy Company (Nawah).

Nawah is the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation’s (ENEC) subsidiary responsible for the operation of the nuclear power plant located in the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi.

The operating licence, with an estimated duration of 60 years, has been issued following a detailed review process that included conducting robust regulatory oversight and inspections.

FANR also assessed Nawah’s organisational and manpower readiness with all the required processes and procedures to ensure the safety and security of power plant.

"This is another historic moment for the UAE, being the first Arab country in the region to operate a nuclear power plant and culminating efforts of 13 years in building such a programme," said Ambassador Hamad Al Kaabi, UAE Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Deputy Chairman at FANR.

Nawah will now undertake a period of commissioning to prepare for the commercial operation where FANR will conduct round-the-clock inspections to ensure the Fuel Load and Power Accession processes are completed according to regulatory requirements.

Meanwhile, the commercial operation of Unit 1 will begin at the first quarter of 2021. Currently, Unit 1, which got its operating licence issued in February 2020, generates  1,400 megawatt (MW) of electricity from a single generator connected to the UAE grid.

The UAE's nuclear project’s overall construction rate is at 95 per cent - Unit 1: operational; Unit 2: completed; Unit 3: 94 per cent; Unit 4: 88 per cent.