Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation Hosts Western Region Nuclear Energy Forum

15.06.11

The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) hosted a public forum last night to provide members of the Western Region community with an update on the country’s nuclear energy program, explain recent events at the Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, and discuss how ENEC is already taking steps to ensure all relevant lessons learned from this event are incorporated into its program.

The forum was held at the National Theatre in Madinat Zayed and was attended by more than 120 residents and officials including Saif Saeed Al Mazrouei, Executive Director of the Area Services Sector – Liwa, at the Western Region Municipality, and Mohammed Bin Azzan Mazrouei, Director General of the Western Region Development Council.

“We are committed to complete operational transparency throughout the life of the program,” said Mohamed Al Hammadi, Chief Executive Officer of ENEC. “Our public forums are an important platform to raise awareness about the role of nuclear energy in the UAE’s future energy mix. We have a responsibility to ensure the community understands the program, understands nuclear energy and understands that we are working to deliver a program that incorporates the highest levels of safety, efficiency and quality.”

ENEC is working closely with the Western Region Municipality and the Western Region Development Council to support the long-term sustainable development of the region, and plans to continue to hold nuclear energy forums for the community over the life of the program.

“The UAE Nuclear Energy Program will support the growth and development of multiple industries across the UAE,” said Saif Saeed Al Mazrouei. “But the work ENEC is doing represents particular importance for the community of Al Gharbia, as the preferred site for the UAE’s first nuclear energy plants. We would like to thank ENEC for this event and for raising awareness about the program.”

The panel from ENEC explained the UAE’s need to develop additional sources of electricity and the reasons the government selected nuclear energy to meet its demand. In addition, ENEC officials discussed the company’s safety standards and its plans to learn from the crisis in Japan, including a safety taskforce it set up to explore relevant lessons. After the presentations, community members were invited to submit questions and comments during an open question and answer session.

The UAE is committed to meeting or exceeding all standards for safety and security set by the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Government officials and energy experts worldwide have called its program a gold standard for countries planning to develop a civil nuclear energy program.

“We are committed to incorporating any relevant lessons learned from Japan to ensure our program sets a benchmark for safety and performance around the world,” Mr. Al Hammadi said. “The events in Japan have implications for the entire nuclear industry. We have established a Safety Review Taskforce to perform a review of these events and the team has already conducted a visit to Japan.”

ENEC officials said that the preferred site for the reactors, Braka in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi, was carefully chosen for its lack of seismic activity and tsunami events. In addition, Braka is more than 50 kilometers from the nearest population center, Ruwais.

ENEC plans to build four APR-1400 reactors with Generation III technology, which include advanced safety systems, and are designed to withstand extreme events, including earthquakes and tsunamis.

ENEC aims to have its first reactor complete and providing electricity to the UAE grid by 2017.

ENEC will host its next forum in Abu Dhabi on Thursday 16th June in Conference Hall A of the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center at 7.30pm. All members of the community are invited to attend and can register for the event by phone on: 050 641 8644 or email: enecforum@enec.gov.ae

For more information, please visit www.enec.gov.abudhabi.