UAE - Mubasher: The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (Andra), a state-owned organisation of France.
The agreement was signed within the framework of ENEC’s dynamic approach to developing a long-term strategy for waste management, according to a press release.
The MoU was signed by CEO of ENEC Mohamed Al Hammadi and CEO of Andra Pierre-Marie Abadie on the sidelines of the 63rd Annual Regular Session of the IAEA General Conference in Vienna, Austria.
Mohamed Al Hammadi said: “This is an important memorandum and comes as part of our commitments set out at the very beginning of the development of the UAE Peaceful Nuclear Energy Programme.”
“These commitments include the UAE’s policy for non-proliferation, transparency and the development of a comprehensive radioactive waste management system that reflects the highest standards of safety, quality, and international best practices,” Al Hammadi added.
Construction works at the Barakah plant have marked steady progress and is now 93% complete, with 95% of work at Unit 2 now complete and over 91% and 82% of work at Unit 3 and Unit 4 is done, respectively, the release indicated.
Moreover, Unit 1 has been fully completed in accordance with the highest global standards of quality and safety and is currently going through commissioning and testing, prior to regulatory review and receipt of the Operating License from the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR).
It is worth noting that all the four units are expected to generate clean, efficient, and reliable electricity to the UAE in order to get rid of the release of up to 21 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year.
