Barakah nuclear power plant
| Barakah Nuclear Power Plant | |
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Yukiya Amano visited the Barakah construction site in 2013.
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 Location of Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in United Arab Emirates
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| Official name | محطة براكة للطاقة النووية |
| Country | United Arab Emirates |
| Location | approx. 50 km west of Ruwais |
| Coordinates | 23°58′N 52°14′E / 23.967°N 52.233°ECoordinates: 23°58′N 52°14′E / 23.967°N 52.233°E |
| Status | Under construction |
| Construction began | July 20, 2012 |
| Commission date | expected 2017 |
| Owner(s) | ENEC |
| Nuclear power station | |
| Reactor type |
PWR APR-1400 |
| Reactor supplier | KEPCO |
| Cooling source | Persian Gulf |
| Cooling towers | no |
| Power generation | |
| Units under const. | 4 × 1400 MW |
| Nameplate capacity | 5600 MW |
The Barakah nuclear power plant is United Arab Emirates's first nuclear power station. It is still under construction, and four APR-1400 nuclear reactors are planned to start operation successively between 2017 and 2020. The site is on UAE's Persian Gulf coastline between the sea and the E11 highway, about 50 km west of Ruwais.
In December 2009, Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) awarded a coalition led by Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) a $20 billion bid to build the first nuclear power plant in the UAE. Barakah was chosen as the site to build four APR-1400 nuclear reactors successively, with the first scheduled to start supplying electricity in 2017.
The plant's ground-breaking ceremony was held on 14 March 2011, including Korean President Lee Myung-bak. Construction of the first unit was begun in the afternoon of 18 July 2012, ahead of its scheduled date in late 2012. This happened despite delays being mooted in the wake of the Japanese nuclear accident. In May 2013 construction started on the second unit, which is expected to take five years. The first safety-related concrete was poured for Unit 3 in September 2014. Unit 4 started construction in September 2015.
In 2011 Bloomberg reported that following detailed finance agreements, the build cost was put at $30 billion: $10 billion equity, $10 billion export-credit agency debt, and $10 billion from bank and sovereign debt. South Korea may earn a further $20 billion from operation, maintenance and fuel supply contracts. A later Bloomberg report indicates the price as $25 billion.
In 2014 the Barakah 1 reactor vessel was delivered onsite and site preparation works for Barakah 3 and 4 started. Meanwhile, the concrete-and-steel reactor containment building for Barakah 1 was completed in January 2015.
In March 2015 ENEC applied to FANR for operating licences for Units 1 and 2. The schedule is still for operation of Unit 1 starting in 2017, with the remaining units following annually, so Unit 4 is set to reach commercial operations in 2020.
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