The permanent representative of the state to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Hamad Ali Al-Kaabi, emphasized that the United Arab Emirates has managed, within a decade, to achieve quantum leaps in its development from a new comer to the peaceful nuclear energy sector to a developer of nuclear energy, which has proven its prestige and established a culture of operational transparency and Commitment to the highest nuclear safety and quality standards.
In our article, Al-Kaabi said: “Our mission was very clear, which is the UAE’s reliance on new technologies to produce safe and environmentally friendly electrical energy that supports growth in the country over the coming decades .. Accordingly, the country has embarked on a strategic assessment process aimed at selecting Appropriate technologies for the production of electric energy, which is the process that included a comprehensive analysis of all forms of proven and reliable technologies in the electricity production sector, and worked on evaluating them based on a set of strategic criteria that included their ability to contribute in the areas of energy security, diversification and sustainability. Environmental .. This led to the selection of the overall process of renewable energy technologies and peaceful nuclear energy as key sources for energy production in the future and integrate with each other, along with the current solutions that rely on ».
Al-Kaabi continued, “Thanks to the guidance of the rational leadership and the efforts of teams of eminent experts who have cooperated closely with international organizations, we have worked for the past ten years and have progressed steadily in order for the UAE to become the 33rd country in the world to possess nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. We remember the start of the UAE peaceful nuclear program in 2006, when high rates of economic and social growth in the UAE led to a significant increase in the levels of electricity demand, which highlighted the need to adopt new technologies to produce electricity to enhance the security of To reduce energy and reduce dependence on fossil fuels for the production of electric energy, along with diversification of energy sources and, more importantly, the development of a more environmentally sustainable electric sector.
Al-Kaabi added, "Our mission was very clear, which is the United Arab Emirates' reliance on new technologies to produce safe and environmentally friendly electrical energy that supports growth in the country over the coming decades."
He pointed out that the UAE has emerged to become one of the largest producers of electric energy from renewable sources in the Middle East region, as it has succeeded in producing an estimated 80% of renewable energy in the region, while the UAE continues to expand to rely on renewable energy sources, the station Baraka peaceful nuclear energy plays an important and complementary strategic role for the renewable energy sector and is the role that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has emphasized as nuclear energy, along with hydropower, is the only major source of environmentally friendly energy that can be implemented on a large scale. Sacrifice, it is the only technology capable of producing large amounts of electricity around the clock with virtually zero carbon emissions.
Al-Kaabi said that the four reactors at the Baraka power plant will be produced in a safe and reliable manner that covers 25% of the UAE's electricity needs. Moreover, the electricity production process at the Baraka nuclear plant will provide the opportunity to achieve the largest reduction in carbon emissions levels in the history of the electricity sector In the UAE, as the use of nuclear energy in the country will prevent the emission of emissions equivalent to that of 3.2 million cars annually, which would redraw the features of the energy sector and put the country on a new path towards sustainable development.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, at the request of the government of the United Arab Emirates, conducted more than 11 comprehensive international review missions to ensure that the UAE peaceful nuclear program and nuclear infrastructure comply with the IAEA standards in the field of safety, security and nuclear non-proliferation, and the UAE was the first country to be evaluated In accordance with the third and final phase of the comprehensive international review of nuclear infrastructure in 2018, the country received positive assessments and points to improve, which were addressed before operations began.