Barakah 4 landmark announced as World Nuclear Symposium gets under way

On the Barakah achievement, Al Hammadi said: "We are enormously proud of this monumental achievement for UAE ... the UAE has added more clean electricity per capita in the past five years than any other nation, with 75% of this coming from Barakah. The Barakah nuclear energy plant offers a new model for the world and demonstrates that nuclear energy is bankable and can be delivered efficiently, with our units coming online within eight years from first concrete pour to fuel load and achieving a 40% improvement in schedule from operational readiness to commercial operations from Unit 1 to Unit 4.

"I congratulate all of our colleagues who have worked tirelessly to develop considerable institutional knowledge with this expertise, we are now well-positioned to advance to the next era of growth and fulfil the broader mission of the UAE Peaceful Nuclear Energy Programme. ENEC is poised to partner, develop, invest in and advocate for more new nuclear projects in the UAE and overseas."

Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of ENEC, said the United Arab Emirates'  leadership in 2008 "took a data-led, long-term approach by issuing a comprehensive policy for the development of civil nuclear energy in the UAE to transform the nation’s energy supply" and it had now been realised. He added: "This source of clean electricity will act as a magnet, attracting additional investment in the UAE by sustainably-minded, but energy intensive industries from around the globe.”

The Korean-designed APR-1400 - a 1400 MWe pressurised water reactor - was connected to the grid in March. Construction of the fourth unit at Barakah began in July 2015, three years after work began on the first unit at the site and it means that the completed plant now has a total capacity of 5600 MW, or about 25% of the UAE's electricity - it is also enough to power 16 million electric vehicles a year.

World Nuclear Symposium

Speaking at World Nuclear Symposium's opening session, Al Hammadi, who is also chairman of World Nuclear Association, said that demand for electricity generation was set to soar in the coming years, in particular with the huge demand from data centrers and artificial intelligence.

"The demand is serious, it's huge and coming our way very, very fast," he said. "The opportunity won't be there forever, that's why we need to act now." He said that continued efforts were needed to build on progress made in ensuring people realised that nuclear was a great clean energy solution, getting the required political buy-in and public acceptance.

The next phase was how to structure and finance new nuclear projects, he added, and the need to reach out and communicate outside the nuclear sector in a way that can "build bridges to enable the lawyers, the banks, the technology providers, the utilities and the politicians understand this narrative of what we can do".

He was joined in the opening session by Sama Bilbao y León, Director General of World Nuclear Association, who said that the past year had been "pivotal for the nuclear industry. It was here at the Symposium last year that we launched the Net Zero Nuclear initiative, and at COP28, we gained momentum. Twenty-five countries signed the Declaration to Triple Nuclear, and more than 120 nuclear energy and technology companies signed the Industry Pledge to at least triple global nuclear energy capacity by 2050.

"I cannot overstate how significant this is. For the first time, nuclear energy was recognised positively in a UN climate forum. The global stocktake agreed upon by 199 countries recognized nuclear as a technology to be accelerated. This is a crucial moment for the industry. The world has changed - there is no longer a debate on whether nuclear needs to be a major part of our future energy mix, the discussion now is how much more and how do we deliver that."

Referencing the conference's theme - Turning Momentum into Energy - she said: "The momentum we’re seeing for nuclear in the policy space, in aspirations, commitments, and the growing number of countries and other industries interested in what nuclear can do for them is significant. The question is: How can the nuclear industry turn this policy momentum into the production of energy? Recognising the urgency of the global energy landscape, we need to move at speed as a sector, to deliver the full potential of nuclear energy and indeed triple global nuclear capacity."

Speaking to a packed hall in the venue across the River Thames from the Houses of Parliament, she noted the  growing numbers of people from outside the industry attending nuclear conferences: "They are curious, more than curious, they’re engaged, they seriously want nuclear energy for its benefits - clean, reliable, secure, affordable energy. For the socio-economic development, the jobs, the ability to decarbonise the entire economy. We’ve known the potential for years, and now they’re seeing it too. We need to recognise this opportunity, and act upon it, not just for us, but for a better world."