Unit 1 of Barakah plant achieve 50% power

Our correspondent

The reactor of Unit 1 of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant has achieved 50 percent of its electricity production capacity, announced Nawah Energy Company or Nawah, the joint venture nuclear operations and maintenance subsidiary of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) and Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), reports WAM.

The achievement was announced on the sidelines of the 64th Annual Regular Session of the IAEA General Conference in Vienna, where the UAE hosted a side event entitled ‘UAE Peaceful Nuclear Energy Programme: The Journey’.

Reaching 50 percent power at Unit 1 of Barakah is an important step in the process of Power Ascension Testing (PAT), and comes at a historic time for the UAE Peaceful Nuclear Energy Programme. It is now one month since the UAE announced that it had safely and successfully began synchronising Unit 1 to the UAE transmission grid and dispatching the first megawatts of clean electricity from the Barakah Plant to the Nation.

A delegation from the UAE including Hamad Al Kaabi, UAE Permanent Representative to the IAEA; Mohamed Ibrahim Al Hammadi, CEO of ENEC; Christer Viktorsson, Director General of the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulations, FANR; and Ali Al Hammadi, CEO of Nawah, is currently participating in the 64th Annual Regular Session of the IAEA General Conference being held from September 21-25 at Vienna, Austria. The conference has brought together high-ranking officials and representatives from the IAEA member-states, both physically and virtually, to discuss a range of nuclear energy topics.

The UAE’s participation comes as Nawah gradually raises the power levels of Unit 1 of the Barakah Plant – over a number of months – as a part of the ongoing Power Ascension Testing. Throughout this process, the Unit’s systems are tested in line with national regulatory requirements and international best practice as the operations team safely makes progress towards full electricity production. Once the process is completed, Unit 1 will enter commercial operations and deliver abundant baseload electricity for up to 18 months prior to refuelling, demonstrating how efficient and reliable nuclear energy is at generating clean electricity 24/7.