The UAE’s first nuclear power plant will not begin generating electricity until the end of next year, or possibly even 2020, its operator has said.
The delay follows a “comprehensive operational readiness review” by the Nawah Energy Company, according to state news agency Wam.
Construction of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant in Al Dhafra has reached an advanced stage, with the completion of the first reactor announced earlier this year.
The process of activating what will be the first of four reactors seems likely now to take longer than originally intended, with Wam reporting that this “reflects a conservative approach intended to ensure that the highest standards of nuclear quality, safety and security”.
To begin nuclear operations, Nawah must receive an operating licence from FANR, the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation, which regulates the industry according to international standards.
It is Nawah’s staff who will operate the plant, with about 1,800 recruited and undergoing specialist training.
A joint venture between Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation and Kepco, the Korean Electric Power Company, Nawah cannot begin operations until it has received a licence from FANR.
Last May, Enec said it had largely completed the first reactor with its Korean partner and hoped operations would begin this year.
Construction of the $25 billion plant began in 2011, with electricity generation originally set for 2017.
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Read more:
Handover of Barakah nuclear plant to operator 'almost complete'
Special report: Power for the people
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Speaking in April, Christer Viktorsson, director general of FANR, said: “I have to make sure that everything is tip-top before I give the operating licence,”.
“They have 60 or 80 years to operate, which is the typical lifetime of a nuclear reactor. So why rush for two months or three months or a year?”
The revised dates for operations were the result of a review based on “global nuclear standards”, according to Mark Reddemann, chief executive of Nawah.
"Nawah’s commitment to meet the highest standards of quality and safety is the main driver for all our work," he said.
Barakah is the first nuclear power plant in the Arab world, and has been hailed as a model for peaceful nuclear power by the international community, with guarantees that the programme could not be used for nuclear weapons.
In his speech last week warning Iran that it faced tougher sanctions over its nuclear activities, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo unfavourably compared Tehran’s approach to that adopted by the UAE, asking: “Why would we allow Iran more capability than we have permitted the United Arab Emirates?”
To begin generating power, the reactors must be loaded with thousands of uranium pellets, generating heat through a controlled nuclear reaction. Among the requirements is that the plant can safely be shut down in the event of a malfunction.
When all four reactors are working, Barakah is predicted to generate about a quarter of the UAE’s electricity needs. Its workforce is currently about 60 per cent Emirati, of which a quarter are women, the highest for any nuclear power company in the world.
Profile of Hala Insurance
Date Started: September 2018
Founders: Walid and Karim Dib
Based: Abu Dhabi
Employees: Nine
Amount raised: $1.2 million
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, AB Accelerator, 500 Startups, private backers
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Results
Catchweight 60kg: Mohammed Al Katheeri (UAE) beat Mostafa El Hamy (EGY) TKO round 3
Light Heavyweight: Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) no contest Kevin Oumar (COM) Unintentional knee by Oumer
Catchweight 73kg: Yazid Chouchane (ALG) beat Ahmad Al Boussairy (KUW) Unanimous decision
Featherweight: Faris Khaleel Asha (JOR) beat Yousef Al Housani (UAE) TKO in round 2 through foot injury
Welterweight: Omar Hussein (JOR) beat Yassin Najid (MAR); Split decision
Middleweight: Yousri Belgaroui (TUN) beat Sallah Eddine Dekhissi (MAR); Round-1 TKO
Lightweight: Abdullah Mohammed Ali Musalim (UAE) beat Medhat Hussein (EGY); Triangle choke submission
Welterweight: Abdulla Al Bousheiri (KUW) beat Sofiane Oudina (ALG); Triangle choke Round-1
Lightweight: Mohammad Yahya (UAE) beat Saleem Al Bakri (JOR); Unanimous decision
Bantamweight: Ali Taleb (IRQ) beat Nawras Abzakh (JOR); TKO round-2
Catchweight 63kg: Rany Saadeh (PAL) beat Abdel Ali Hariri (MAR); Unanimous decision
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
The biog
Siblings: five brothers and one sister
Education: Bachelors in Political Science at the University of Minnesota
Interests: Swimming, tennis and the gym
Favourite place: UAE
Favourite packet food on the trip: pasta primavera
What he did to pass the time during the trip: listen to audio books
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Cry Macho
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam
Rating:**
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
