Reactive Statement to 22 February Korea Times article

23.02.17

As previously published through the corporate website on 20 October 2016 and 21 November 2016, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) confirms that two accidents took place in 2016 involving companies subcontracted by the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO).

ENEC deeply regrets the loss of lives of the three workers involved in the two accidents. Safety is the overriding priority at ENEC and these accidents have been treated as serious occurrences.

In 2016, ENEC instructed KEPCO to conduct a comprehensive audit of the safety procedures and processes at the construction site of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, with the goal to identify the root causes that led to the two accidents, and to further increase the performance of safety at the site.

With regards to the accident that took place in May 2016, a total of 18 root causes were identified and comprehensive corrective actions program containing 21 corrective actions were developed. Since then, no Lost Time Injuries or accidents have taken place in crane-related work at Barakah.

A Root Cause Analysis to investigate the causes that led to the Unit 4 Turbine Hall Accident that occurred in November 2016 is nearing completion. A summary of the Root Cause Analysis will be provided when available.

More than 22,000 professionals safely work at Barakah every day to deliver the Barakah project. Safety-related training is undertaken by all workers on a regular basis through a range of channels including workshops and briefings. Since 2015, 282,532 hours of safety training have been completed.

Pending regulatory approval, the operating license for Unit 1 of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant will be received in 2017.