Nuclear Fuel Assemblies for the UAE
As part of its nuclear energy policy, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) made the decision to forgo domestic enrichment and reprocessing of nuclear fuel, two key elements of the country’s commitment to non-proliferation.
To obtain nuclear fuel for the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, ENEC conducted an extensive procurement competition with international nuclear fuel suppliers. This process was conducted in line with the nuclear industry’s best practices, under which several companies contract for various aspects of the fuel development process. This helps to ensure security of supply, high quality fuel and commercial advantage.
Once the procurement process was complete, ENEC entered into contracts with six suppliers to provide materials and services, including:
- Purchase of natural uranium concentrate
- Purchase of enriched uranium product and related products and services
- Conversion and enrichment services
Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) Nuclear Fuel, a member of the Prime Contractor’s team, manufactures the fuel assemblies in Korea. KEPCO Nuclear Fuel then ships the fuel assemblies to the UAE for use at the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant.
What are the three biggest myths in nuclear energy?
01
Radiation is man made
Radiation is energy in motion. There are many natural sources of radiation that we live with safely every day such as cosmic radiation from the sun.
02
Nuclear reactors can explode like bombs
It is not possible for a nuclear energy plant to explode like a bomb, these plants are designed to produce electricity safely and reliably.
03
It's not safe to be near a nuclear energy plant
If you stood at the site boundary for a whole year, you would receive less than a quarter of the radiation from a chest x-ray.