Christer Viktorsson, Director General, Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) • Interview

The pandemic has spurred FANR and the UAE to further establish their expertise and self-reliance in energy, developing business continuity planning and emergency arrangements.

How has the pandemic affected the initial inspection period for Barakah Nuclear Power Plant, and where you are today in terms of the regulatory environment?

Regarding Barakah Nuclear Power Plant, we issued the operating license of Unit 1 to Nawah Energy Company on February 17, and a week after it started loading fresh nuclear fuel into the reactor. That process took about three or four weeks, and now it has closed the reactor. Nawah is testing various systems, such as increasing the temperature and pressure. The pandemic did not prevent Nawah from continuing the tests that had been approved by FANR before granting the operating license. Nawah slowed down the construction of other units slightly and focused fully on Unit 1, continuing the nuclear commissioning activities in order to achieve operation and generate power to the grid when all tests had been done successfully. A few years ago, FANR introduced the practice of the resident inspector, and it has proven to be a good practice. Otherwise, it would have been complicated for us to conduct inspections during the pandemic. With a rotating system of inspectors and regular communication, essentially there has been no delays. They are still continuing the testing phase, but the plant has not produced any electricity yet. We do not know when it will be ready to do so, and we are taking an extremely cautious approach. The safety of the nuclear power plant tops our priority.

What is your perspective on the 10% drop in power generation globally, and how are FANR and the nuclear industry more broadly handling this situation?

We organized a webinar with other representatives and the International

Atomic Energy Agency and concluded that the nuclear industry has continued to provide electricity, perhaps with slightly decreased output, regardless of COVID-19. The continuation of power generation from nuclear energy is important in many countries. However, this requires tremendous effort from the nuclear industry and the regulators to work remotely where possible. We have been working on this internally at FANR and will start cooperating with foreign regulators to develop further remote inspections, ensuring the safety of employees, and maintaining compliance in operation of the plants. In the end, nuclear power has to stay safe, in spite of the COVID-19. The nuclear industry is no stranger to crises throughout the years, and this makes us more proactive than most. We have developed business continuity planning and emergency arrangements, and this flexibility and agility is integrated well at FANR. We established the COVID-19 advisory team to move quickly and effectively across areas. This is one strength we have leveraged to manage the pandemic. As previously mentioned, another advantage is our resident inspector system. Moreover, we have advanced e-licensing systems, which address medical and industrial use of radiation, to continue supporting thousands of licensees in the same way as we did before. Another takeaway is that nuclear industry depends on transient workers, and this presents some challenges in the current situation. The nuclear industry needs to think about how to secure support for the future.

What is your perspective on the environment, energy, and economy trilemma?

Climate change needs to be a priority, and nuclear power provides part of the solution. It provides clean energy as well as increased energy independence and sustainability for a country. Partnership will be increasingly important as we see a dip in nuclear facilities and related vendors. The UAE has a strong partnership with South Korea, which has helped us tremendously. We continue to engage significantly with the regulators in South Korea to exchange and share experience. The outcome of the pandemic is to my opinion giving an opportunity for the local industry to develop to support the maintenance of the Barakah nuclear power plant. There should be a strong incentive now for local industry to develop special niches where they can serve the nuclear industry such that we further establish expertise and self-reliance.