MILESTONES

■ March 7, 2010: The UAE Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation issues the first licence to the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) to study potential sites to assess their suitability for the location of nuclear power plants.

■ April 22, 2010: The ENEC selects government land in Barakah, Al Dhafra area, about 75km from the Saudi border on Emirates Road and 300km from Abu Dhabi, to build four nuclear reactors.

■ December 21, 2011: The UAE and South Korean nuclear regulators reaffirm the cooperation between the two bodies with an agreement signed in Abu Dhabi.

■ August 1, 2012: The UAE signs a nuclear cooperation agreement with Australia to get uranium.

■ March 20, 2013: The construction of the UAE’s first nuclear energy reactor continues to progress, with the installation of the Containment Liner Plate in the reactor containment building for Barakah Unit 1.

■ May 28, 2013: The construction of a second nuclear plant starts,.

■ September 14, 2013: The first shipment of UAE-produced nuclear grade reinforcing steel, produced by Emirates Steel Industries is delivered to Barakah.

■ November 6, 2013: The ENEC announces the completion of the fabrication and installation of the Containment Liner Plate (CLP) in the Reactor Containment Building for Barakah Unit 1.

■ September 24, 2014: The ENEC achieves another milestone in the development and complex construction of the UAE’s first nuclear energy plant by pouring the safety concrete for the Reactor Containment Building for Unit 3.

■ November 29, 2015: The ENEC announces the completion of several major construction milestones on Unit 2 of the Barakah plant.

■ February 16, 2016: In a crucial step towards commercial operations, Cold Hydrostatic Testing at Unit 1 in Barakah is successful.

■ July 2, 2016: Unit 1 of the Barakah clears major safety tests, marking an achievement in testing and commissioning phase.

■ July 20, 2016: ENEC announces the completion of yet another milestone in the development of the country’s first nuclear energy plant, with the successful installation of its Unit 3 Reactor Vessel.

■ March 26, 2018: In a historic step, the UAE announces the completion of first of the four Barakah nuclear power reactors, taking a big leap towards energy security.

■ April 10, 2018: The Reactor Containment Building (RCB) dome for Unit 4, the final unit of the plant, is successfully completed.

■ August 20, 2019: ENEC announces another milestone in the construction of Unit 3 of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, after successfully completing the safe energising of Unit 3’s main power transformers.

■ January 28, 2020: Tests by an independent body conclude that Unit 1 of the Barakah nuclear power plant is ready to generate energy.