By: Amr Adel
Abu Dhabi - Mubasher: UAE energy minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said on Monday that 84% of work on the Barakah Nuclear Power Project has been completed, with the rate reaching 96% in the first reactor.
The minister added during his speech in the inauguration ceremony of the International Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Power in the 21st Century in Abu Dhabi, that the nuclear plant will provide 45% of the country’s energy needs by 2021.
The United Arab Emirates has gone a long way in developing its nuclear energy programme, and to establish the needed infrastructure, Al Mazrouei noted, adding that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have always been supportive of the UAE’s peaceful nuclear programme.
Yukiya Amano, the director general of the IAEA said that the Emirati nuclear plant is expected to begin operation next year, while the three other reactors joining in 2020.
Abu Dhbai, the capital of the United Arab Emirates is hosting the International Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Power in the 21st Century in cooperation with the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), the international agency working under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The objective of the conference, which was launched on Monday 30 October, and will conclude by 1 November, is to enable the participants to engage in high-level dialogue on the role of nuclear power in meeting future energy demand, contributing to sustainable development and mitigating climate change, as well as to discuss and exchange views on the key issues related to the development and deployment of nuclear power, according to the IAEA.
