UAE begins commercial operations at Korean-built No. 3 nuclear reactor

The third reactor of the Barakah nuclear plant of the United Arab Emirates. [KOREA ELECTRIC POWER CORPORATION]

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has started commercial operations at the third unit of the Korean-built Barakah nuclear power plant, Korea's state-run utility firm said Sunday.

The Unit 3 reactor began its commercial operations Friday after the Middle East country issued an operating license last June and the process to insert fuel rods into the reactor started, according to the Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco).

It is one of the four nuclear reactors built in Barakah, 270 kilometers west of Abu Dhabi, under a $20 billion contract won by a Kepco-led consortium in 2009. The project marked Korea's first export of a homegrown commercial atomic power plant.

The first Barakah unit began commercial operations in April 2021 and the second one in March 2022.

The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation said Unit 3 adds 1,400 megawatts of clean electricity capacity to the UAE grid, with the total production from the three units reaching 4,200 megawatts.

Yonhap