UAE : Test begins for Barakah nuclear power plant
The Emirates Nuclear Energy Agency announced that after completing the loading of the nuclear fuel packages in the second unit, tests to run the Barakah nuclear power plant began.
This came in a publication by the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, on the official Twitter account, on Tuesday, confirming the completion of the nuclear fuel loading package in Unit II and the commencement of testing.
The UAE ended a new phase of its energy transformation plan on Tuesday (March 9th, 2021) with the Barakeh 2 nuclear power plant getting an operating license.
This comes at a time when the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation announced that the Nawaat Energy Company had succeeded at the end of last year in bringing the first plant reactor at Barakah to 100% of their production capacity.
The plant, located in Al-Dhafra area of Abu Dhabi, is the first nuclear power plant in the Arab world and comes as part of the UAE’s efforts to diversify its energy sources.
The foundation said: “Our teams have completed loading nuclear fuel packages at the second plant of Barakeh Peaceful Nuclear Power Plants. We will now start the testing phase in preparation for the start-up process for the station.”
The Barakah nuclear power plant is located in western Abu Dhabi and is valued at $25 billion. It has four reactors that will provide environmentally-friendly energy, while the operational life of one reactor is 60 years.
Last July, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation said it completed construction work on the second plant and moved into the phase of operational preparations and major testing of the plant’s systems.
The Authority also completed international inspections and inspections, after which it obtained a license to operate on the second phase from the Federal Authority for Nuclear Control, the monitoring agency responsible for regulating the nuclear sector in the UAE.
Before completing construction work, T2 passed the thermal performance test in August 2018 and passed structural safety and integrated leakage tests in March 2019.
All pre-operational tests have demonstrated the typical structural integrity performance of the second station and have demonstrated that all plant systems are fully capable of performing their role reliably and safely once the operational phase begins in accordance with the highest global safety standards.
Construction work on the Barakah nuclear power plant project began in 2012 and has seen continuous progress since then, with completion rates of more than 94%.
The commission reviewed the 14,000 page licensing request for the first and second stations, and conducted more than 220 strict inspections, and requested a comparison of 2,000 additional information for the second unit on various topics, including the reactor design, safety and security factors, among others, to ensure compliance with all monitoring standards.
The Barakah nuclear power plant is located in western Abu Dhabi and is valued at $25 billion. It has four reactors that will provide environmentally-friendly energy, while the operational life of one reactor is 60 years.
Over the past decade, the UAE has received 11 international missions from the IAEA to review and evaluate various aspects of the nuclear infrastructure, the legal and regulatory framework, nuclear safety and safety standards, and the state’s level of preparedness for emergencies and nuclear non-proliferation.
