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Building Barakah

Before dawn, lights shine across the United Arab Emirates, forming a glowing map of the country visible to travelers looking down from an airplane window. Far in the west of the United Arab Emirates stands the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, which helps make that map possible.

This significant milestone reflects how far the United Arab Emirates has advanced in science, technology and engineering in five prosperous decades.

Located in the Al Dhafra Region, the Barakah plant is the country’s first commercial nuclear energy facility.

The nuclear plant consists of four APR1400 reactors that supply around a quarter of the country’s energy supply while simultaneously reducing carbon emissions by a rate of 22.4 million tons per year.

More than just a power plant, the Barakah plant represents a turning point in the UAEs’ energy history and demonstrates the nation’s growing strength in innovation, long-term planning and advanced engineering.

A NEW CHAPTER IN UAE ENERGY

The UAE is a cosmopolitan country, which makes the country’s energy demands higher; in addition, the high population induces major carbon emissions.

The country needed to innovate beyond traditional energy-generation systems.

It all started with the need to diversify energy sources beyond oil and gas. In 2008 the UAE published its own national nuclear energy policy.

IMAGE: Shutterstock

In line with the country’s shift toward nuclear energy, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Company (ENEC) was established in 2009. An international partnership with Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) was formed to build the plant.

The UAE chose nuclear energy as part of its long-term energy strategy because it offered a combination of reliability, scale and sustainability.

Nuclear energy could provide continuous clean electricity, reduce dependence on traditional energy sources and support the country’s goals of technological progress and climate responsibility.

BUILDING BARAKAH IN THE DESERT

The site selection for the Barakah plant was based on a rigorous evaluation by experts in accordance with the critical standards of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The remote location is far from major population centers, making it significantly safer.

The remote site has enough space for all four reactors and is effectively integrated into the UAE’s 400 kV national electricity grid.

KEPCO, ENEC’s partner in the project, helped design, build and operate all four reactors, with construction beginning in 2012.

Behind Barakah’s massive structures, however, was an equally important human story.

The project depended on engineers, technicians, operators and health, safety and environment specialists whose work requires precision, training and responsibility.

This made Barakah more than a source of electricity. It also became a milestone in developing the knowledge and expertise needed for the UAE to take part in one of the world’s most advanced energy industries.

The Barakah plant created a new generation of skilled engineers and technicians with over 2,000 Emiratis contributing to its development from the beginning.

THE MOMENT EVERYTHING CHANGED

At its peak, the Barakah plant was the world’s largest nuclear-construction site, with all four units being built simultaneously.

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The first unit in the project was connected to the grid in August 2020, making the UAE the first country to begin operations of a nuclear reactor in the Arab world at that time.

This milestone came after a series of operational delays stemming from construction issues, environmental factors and a lack of certified operators.

An important reason this remote location was selected was its proximity to the sea. Nuclear power plants depend on water for cooling to operate efficiently.

From the time the first unit started operating, the UAE fulfilled a national vision and entered a new era of energy mix.

The Barakah plant became a symbol of engineering achievement. This shows how the UAE is leading major advanced engineering and energy projects.

BARAKAH’S LEGACY TODAY

The Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant strengthened the UAE’s position as a regional leader in advanced energy and supported the nation’s long-term development.

Barakah is not only an energy plant. It represents a change in how the UAE imagines its future through science, technology and engineering.

The country strives toward constant development, advancement and innovation in a plethora of sectors, including energy, technology and engineering.

In the desert, Barakah stands as more than a structure of steel and concrete. It stands as proof that the UAE’s future is being powered, reimagined and innovated not only by vision.

The UAE gets its vision from leaders who encourage innovation and advancement in the nation; their support gives the individuals behind the idea the hope that what they dreamed of will eventually come true with determination.

BEYOND ELECTRICITY

ENEC says the UAE’s peaceful nuclear energy program has helped create a skilled workforce: ENEC employs more than 3,000 people, with over 60 percent of those UAE nationals, according to ENEC’s program overview.

BARAKAH TIMELINE:

  • 2009: ENEC and KEPCO partner to build Barakah.
  • 2011: The project officially begins.
  • 2012: Construction of Unit 1 starts.
  • 2018: Unit 1 completed.
  • 2024: Unit 4 begins commercial operation, completing Barakah.

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Banned chemical still a MENA
health threat

Banned pollutants continue to be a health threat in the MENA region, according to a recent study from the University of Sharjah.

The study in Environmental Research finds that polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) persist in the environment.

PBDEs are a class of human-made chemicals used as flame retardants in such products as electronics, household appliances, vehicles, furniture and upholstery. They have been largely banned or phased out worldwide.

“Across the Middle East and North Africa, environmental pollution is often discussed through visible pressures: urbanization, industrial expansion, water scarcity, waste management and rapid infrastructure growth,” says study lead Khaled Abass.

Less visible but increasingly important “is the persistence of legacy chemicals embedded in consumer products, electronic waste, sediments, soils and indoor environments,” he adds.

The study finds that PBDE contamination levels are especially elevated in industrialized and urban settings.

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‘Invisible’ drone hides in plain
sight

Researchers for years have tried to make drones “disappear.”

They’ve used camouflage, transparent materials and light-bending optical systems. But a team at Northwestern University has a new approach: “motion blur.”

That’s the same quirk of human vision that makes fast-spinning fans and propellers seem to disappear.

The “Phantom Twist” drone spins up to 25 times per second, making it too fast for human eyes to see.

“For a typical quadrotor drone, the propellers are spinning, but the robot is stationary,” says Northwestern’s Michael Rubenstein. “So, you still see its body. For our drone, the whole thing is rotating, so there are no stationary parts.”

Researchers say this technology could be useful for monitoring nesting birds, surveying wetlands or inspecting aging infrastructure without disturbing natural behavior.

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A giant leap against neurotoxin

As the world heats up, “red tide” algal blooms are becoming more common. They also produce one of the most potent neurotoxins: saxitoxin, or STX.

This neurotoxin accumulates in shellfish and can be fatal to humans if consumed. There is no antidote.

A study in Nature Communications, however, says a protein found in frogs can neutralize saxitoxin in mice. The protein, called saxiphilin, prevented and even reversed poisoning in lab mice by binding tightly to saxitoxin in the bloodstream before it reaches nerve and muscle cells, the researchers say.

“This was a problem looking for a solution,” says team lead Daniel Minor. “It turns out that one naturally occurring protein is all that’s required to take this toxin out of commission.”

Researchers are also hopeful that the discovery could lead to antidotes for other toxins that result from harmful algal blooms.

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Sand to soil

Arable land makes up only about 1 percent of the United Arab Emirates. That’s roughly 50,000 hectares in a country with about 11.5 million people to feed.

But what if microbes that produce bacterial nanocellulose and mycelium could turn sand into something that could sustain plant growth, increasing food security and reducing the environmental costs of importing food from other countries?

That’s the question Khalifa University’s Blaise Tardy and his associates from KU and the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA) examined in a recent paper in Carbohydrate Polymers.

Tardy previously wrote in KUSTReview.com about adding cellulose to desert sand to increase fertility. This process makes use of such free biomass materials as landscaping trimmings, kitchen scraps and post-consumer waste to create a positive-feedback loop toward a greener desert.

The new paper follows up on that idea. But instead of adding cellulose via biomass, the goal is to introduce microbes and mycelium to grow the fibers that hold water and increase soil cohesion.

It made sense to partner with the Swiss team, Tardy says. “Our collaborators at EMPA in Switzerland are among the best in the world on these topics,” he says.

The idea is an intervention that would give desert sand what it needs to sustain plant life.

IMAGE: Blaise Tardy

It’s not so much that the desert can’t grow plants. It’s that the desert can’t hold the water to sustain them, Tardy says.

“When it rained a lot, you could see on the satellite images: The next day the desert’s green.

“But it was very short-lived because the soil was not ready. So if any of these two papers were implemented there, just waiting for the rain, we would have had crops for maybe three months longer.”

UAE residents don’t have to wait for large initiatives to do their part, though. Tardy recommends the “green bins” that compost kitchen scraps.

“I do it on the balcony, and if you do it properly, for example by adding the right microbial strains that produce mycelium, there are no smells and sometimes I even get mushrooms growing from my compost too,” Tardy says.

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