UAE's nuclear power plant may begin operating within months

The United Arab Emirates could start operating its first nuclear power plant within months as the regulating authority issued on Sunday the licenses required to transport and store nuclear fuel.

Christer Viktorsson, the director of the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR), described the approval of the licenses as a "major milestone", which marks the last step before the first nuclear reactor becomes operational in May.

According to FANR, the first fuel shipment will be sent by sea from South Korea and inspected on arrival in coming weeks before being taken to the power plant’s Barakah site in the Western Region.

"They are packing the fuel now in Korea and we had inspectors there a few weeks ago," said Ian Grant, the authority’s deputy director general for operations.

"Once we have authorisation to load the fuel, there would be a period of about another six or seven months of testing and gradually increasing power."

The plant's design is based on Korea's model, which is set to withstand major natural disasters.

"The Korean Peninsula has got stronger earthquakes than here so the Korean design is very robust against earthquakes," Grant explained.

"It is designed to withstand twice the might that is predicted to happen at the site and we've studied the earthquake design extensively."

The nuclear plant is expected to provide for a quarter of the UAE's electricity needs - and save up to 12 million tonnes in carbon emissions every year.

Construction began in 2012 by a consortium of builders led by the South Korean power giant Korean Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO).

Work on the four-reactor plant is divided into four units, all of which are being built simultaneously.