Following receipt of an operating license in February 2020 and completion of fuel assembly loading in March 2020, Barakah unit 1 was started up at the end of July 2020 by Nawah Energy Company, the operations and maintenance subsidiary of Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation. Nuclear power is now being delivered to the national electricity transmission grid of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the first time.

With the integration and connection of the South Korean-designed APR-1400 reactor complete, operators will begin the process of gradually raising the facility’s power levels during the power ascension testing phase. More Barakah unit 1 is the first nuclear power reactor in the region. Source: Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporationthan 950 km of 400 kV overhead power lines had to be built to link the plant to the grid.

The advanced pressurized water reactor includes features such as direct vessel injection from the safety injection system, passive flow regulation devices in the safety injection tank, an in-containment refueling water supply system and systems for severe accident mitigation and management.

Two steam generators transfer the heat of 4,000 MW from the reactor coolant system to the secondary system, producing steam to drive the turbine-generator that will produce a net electrical power of 1,400 MW. Plant design and components have been adapted to suit the climatic conditions of UAE: The reactors have larger pumps, plant cooling and seawater intake systems, improved ventilation and a more refined intake screen design. The facility is engineered to withstand earthquakes of a 7.0 magnitude or higher on the Richter scale.

Construction work has already been completed on Unit 2, and Units 3 and 4 are 93% and 86% complete, respectively. When fully commissioned, the 5,600 MW Barakah nuclear power plant is expected to supply up to 25% of the UAE’s electricity needs for the next 60 years.