Greenpeace, a global environmental non-governmental organization, has condemned the start-up of the first unit of the Barakah nuclear plant reactors in the UAE.
The organization considered that this project "is a futile investment in wrong technology, which will only deplete the scarce water resources in the Emirates."
And she explained that nuclear energy is not the energy of the future.
She pointed out that the UAE chose nuclear energy at a time when countries around the world such as Germany chose to phase out them, not the other way around.
She added that building a nuclear plant in a country suffering from water scarcity is just a bad and dangerous investment in a region exposed to conflicts in which nuclear reactors pose a great threat to the safety of the people.
This condemnation comes after experts warned in a report published by Power Technology International, which is concerned with energy sources, of what they said are imminent environmental risks with the launch of the civil nuclear reactor in the Emirates, after repeated delays due to multiple safety problems.
On August 1, the UAE announced the operation of the Barakah nuclear reactor in the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi, which is the first of four reactors it establishes in its endeavors to build its nuclear capabilities and energy production sources.
Abu Dhabi is counting on the plant to produce a quarter of the country's energy needs, with expectations that its operating capacity will reach 5.6 gigawatts, through these reactors, in which the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation used foreign expertise, specifically South Korean expertise.
Questions and warnings
However, the UAE celebration of operating its nuclear reactor does not dispel fears about the potential risks to the new facility, and many questions have not yet been asked by energy experts regarding the project.
Experts said in the report of Power Technology International, which is concerned with energy sources, that many concerns are circulating around the project, especially those related to any possible leakage, given the technical problems that have affected the launch of the reactor.
Experts also considered that the site of the reactor constituted another challenge, as the project is being built in an area full of crises, and an environment that is not reassuring for such sensitive facilities.