Emirates successfully completes major tests to fully activate the last unit of Barakah Nuclear Power Plant

The Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in the United Arab Emirates is about to become fully operational. The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) announced that it has completed the thermal performance test on Unit 4 of the Barakah Plant, located in the Al-Dhafra region. This marks an important step before the last of the four areas that make up the Emirati facility go into operation, after Unit 1, Unit 2 and Unit 3 successfully completed their final installation for commissioning. 

During the thermal performance test of the fourth phase of the infrastructure, a full examination of the plant components in terms of thermal expansion and vibration factors was completed, and the results showed that all systems perform to the highest standards of quality and safety under normal operating conditions.

In particular, the test included pressure device safety valve testing, reactor cooling system flow measurement and main turbine system testing, which confirmed that the plant's main components and systems function as designed and meet all requirements for normal operation, as reported by Al-Ain News.

This thermal performance test means a process of several weeks as up to 200 individual and integrated tests have to be performed to determine how the system performs in full operation. The so-called Hot Functional Testing (HFT) phase seeks to verify performance under normal operating conditions, without the presence of nuclear fuel assemblies in the reactor vessel. However, it also provides data on operation under less ideal conditions. 

Prior to the temperature assessment test, ENEC also completed structural integrity and integrated leak rate tests of Barakah Unit 4. The data provided by these tests confirmed the durability of the infrastructure of the fourth phase of the plant in terms of its ability to continue operating under normal and more challenging conditions. 

In this regard, Mohammed Ibrahim al-Hammadi, managing director and CEO of ENEC, said: "The completion of these tests at Barakah Unit 4 confirms the continuous progress in developing plants in accordance with local regulatory requirements and the highest international standards," as reported by Al-Ain News. 

Al-Hammadi added: "The work teams have applied all the lessons learned from the development of all the stations, resulting in an increase in completion efficiency while maintaining commitment to the highest international standards of quality and safety. These tests are a major step towards the operational phase of the fourth station, and bring us closer to commercial operation of all Barakah stations, producing abundant, reliable and environmentally friendly electricity, as well as supporting the transition to environmentally friendly energy sources in the UAE, and enhancing energy security for the next 60 years. As a result, the Barakah plants play a key role in supporting the country's efforts to achieve climate neutrality goals by 2050," Al-Ain News specified. 

Prior to the final implementation of Unit 4, ENEC had completed the relevant tests of Unit 3, including the safe and successful integration of the main power transformer and gas isolation line (GIB), an important test and key step for the proper operation of the plant. In addition to the main transformer and GIB, the auxiliary power transformers and excitation transformer of Unit 3 were safely and successfully energised in normal operating configuration a few months ago. 

This is a clear commitment by the Gulf country to promote energy sources other than fossil fuels, which have been the mainstay of national revenues until now. Emirates is now seeking to diversify its economy and also to vary its energy sources so as not to rely solely on oil and natural gas and to improve its position in terms of environmental protection thanks to cleaner and more environmentally friendly energy sources. 

The last unit of the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant began construction in 2015, three years after the start of work on Unit 1, and the development work has been carried out throughout these years without problems and with the strong support of the Emirati government, focused on reducing the carbon footprint of the national energy sector in order to achieve the long-awaited climate neutrality by 2050, as required by the United Nations. 

Once fully operational, the four units will supply 25% of the country's electricity consumption and cut up to 22.4 million tonnes of carbon emissions per year, which is equivalent to the emissions of 4.8 million cars each year. 

The Barakah plants are among the largest nuclear power plants in the world, with four APR-1400 advanced design reactors. In addition, all areas of Barakah are expected to contribute the most to reducing carbon emissions from the power and water sector in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi by 50%, in addition to producing more than 85% of the Emirate's clean and environmentally friendly electricity.

The Barakah Nuclear Power Plant thus becomes a global benchmark for new nuclear construction projects worldwide.

All four units have been under construction simultaneously over the past few years, a testament to the hard work being done on Emirati soil. This true feat of energy and construction in the Emirates was achieved through close cooperation with the prime contractor and joint venture partner, Korea Electric Power Corporation of South Korea (KEPCO), as well as expert teams from Nawah Energy Company and Abu Dhabi Transmission and Despatch Company (TRANSCO). The engineering challenge of this infrastructure is demonstrated by the number of people involved in the construction of the project, which amounts to 18,000.