Work begins on second UAE nuclear power plant

ABU DHABI:  The UAE has started  work  on its second reactor which is located in the Al-Gharbia desert region 75 km from the border with Saudi Arabia.
Sources at the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation sources (ENEC) said the construction of the Unit 2 plant would take five years.
The plant is scheduled to enter commercial operation by 2018, pending further regulatory approvals, said the sources. 
Construction on the Baraka site began in 2012 and according to the timeline for the works, the first reactor will be up and running in 2017.  
ENEC is building a total of four nuclear energy plants in Barakah.
In July 2012, ENEC received its construction license from the Federal Authority of Nuclear Regulation (FANR)   for the construction of the first two plants.
As well as diversifying the nation’s energy supply, with four plants online by 2020, nuclear energy will save the UAE up to 12 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
According to statistics, power demand in the UAE is growing at 9 percent per year — some three times the global average.
By 2020, the country expects to need 40,000 MWe of installed generating capacity and wants nuclear units at Barakah to make up 5600 MWe of this.
“We are drawing on the skills and expertise of a world-class nuclear corporation through our prime contractor Kepco,” said Mohammad Ibrahim Al -Hammadi, CEO of ENEC.
“We are committed to delivering a world-class program from construction through to operations,” he said.  
Sources said ENEC will apply for an operating license for Units 1 and 2 in 2015, and recently submitted the construction license application for Units 3 and 4 to FANR in March 2013.
ENEC meanwhile hosted Sang-jick Yoon, South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, at Barakah in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi.
The meeting coincides with the start of construction work on the UAE’s second nuclear energy plant. 

Khaldoun Khalifa Al-Mubarak, chairman of ENEC, commended the commitment demonstrated by South Korea in the development of the UAE’s peaceful nuclear energy program, thanking the minister for his government’s continued support to set up   nuclear energy program in the UAE. 

Sultan bin Ahmed Sultan Al-Jaber, UAE Minister of State and CEO of Masdar, Mohammad Ibrahim Al-Hammadi, CEO of the ENEC and senior representatives from the Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) and ENEC’s prime contractor.