Prime Minister of S. Korea visits UAE's proposed Nuclear Energy site

Abu Dhabi, Jan 18, 2012 (WAM) - The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) welcomed on Tuesday, Prime Minister of S. Korea Kim Hwang-Sik to Braka in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi, the proposed site for the UAE's first nuclear energy plants. During the visit, the premier was received by ENEC's CEO Mohamed Al Hammadi, KEPCO Chief Executive Officer, Kim Joong Kyum and senior ENEC executives. They briefed the premier on the progress achieved so far in the development of the nuclear energy program and the future plans. The Prime Minister also addressed the staff working at the site, expressed his satisfaction with the project progress and emphasised the importance of commercial relations between the Republic of Korea and the UAE. In December 2009, a consortium led by South Korean nuclear energy company, the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), was awarded the Prime Contract for the design and construction and of the UAE's nuclear energy plants. The plants will be owned and operated by ENEC, with the first unit expected to be complete by 2017. By 2020, four units will be delivering up to a quarter of the nation's electricity needs with safe, clean, efficient and reliable nuclear energy. Preliminary site preparation works are currently underway at the proposed site. The construction of the first two units is pending approval of the Construction License Application (CLA) from the UAE's independent nuclear energy regulator, the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR). ENEC submitted its CLA to FANR in December 2010. ENEC's CLA involved a rigorous 12-month review and safety analysis of the design of the plant and the proposed site, Braka, in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi. The CLA is approximately 9,000 pages in length and is based substantially on the analysis done for, and licenses granted by the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) to KEPCO for Shin Kori 3'&'4 units in Korea, the "reference plant" for the UAE program. ENEC has selected KEPCO's APR1400, a Generation III, 1400 Megawatt nuclear energy plant - proven technology that meets the highest international standards for safety and performance. The plants are designed to withstand extreme events including tsunami, earthquake and station black-out. However, one of the most important factors in ENEC's selection of Braka as its preferred site was the fact that it is in an area with a very low probability of earthquakes - what is called low seismicity. The Arabian Gulf is also not an area with a history of tsunami activity. - Emirates News Agency, WAM