Nawah Energy Company (Nawah) has announced that the reactor of Unit 1 of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant has achieved 80% of the Unit 1 reactor’s rated capacity power. It stated that this milestone is an important step in the ongoing Power Ascension Testing (PAT) of Unit 1, which involves slowly raising the reactor power levels while collecting data and tuning control and safety systems.

The PAT is being conducted under the UAE’s independent nuclear regulator, the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation, which has conducted more than 280 inspections since the start of Barakah’s development. During this process, the systems of Unit 1 are monitored and tested to ensure their compliance with national regulatory requirements and the highest international standards of safety, quality, security and reliability.

Nawah is a joint venture nuclear operations and maintenance subsidiary of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation and Korea Electric Power Corporation. It stated that these national reviews have been supported by more than 40 assessments and peer reviews by the International Atomic Energy Agency and World Association of Nuclear Operators.

Nawah also added that its operations team at Unit 1 are working to increase the plant’s electricity production to 100% capacity, marking the final stages of PAT. Unit 1 will be gradually shut down to enable the commencement of a Check Outage, following the achievement of 100% power.

Unit 1’s systems will be carefully examined, and any planned or corrective maintenance will be performed to ensure its safety, reliability and security before commercial operations begin, during the Check Outage.