UAE delays start-up of first nuclear plant

The United Arab Emirates is delaying the start-up of its first Korean-built nuclear reactor by a year because the local company that needs to operate it has not yet received a licence from the nuclear regulator, Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) said in a statement on Friday.

Confirming a Reuters report from Thursday, ENEC said that construction of the first reactor had now been completed, but the reactor will not start up before the UAE's Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) has issued an operating licence to Nawah, the ENEC-KEPCO joint venture set up to run the plant.The Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant - built by Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) - is the world's largest single nuclear energy new build project, with four APR-1400 units under simultaneous construction, which will deliver up to a quarter of the UAE’s electricity needs.