UAE nuclear fuel deal in early 2012 via emirates24/7

Construction work for four nuclear plants to be launched in mid-2012

Published Sunday, September 25, 2011

The UAE will award a contract in early 2012 for the supply of nuclear fuel to run its four nuclear reactors which the country is planning to construct as part of an ambitious peaceful programme to meet its growing energy needs.

The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec), a government establishment created last year to oversee the ambitious project, also said it would launch construction work for the infrastructure of the plants in Barrakah in the western region in mid 2012 to pave the way for their operation in 2017.

“Enec will announce the winner of a bid to supply nuclear fuel for the four plans in the first quarter of 2012,” said Fahd Al-Qahtani, information director at Enec.

“Fuel supplies will cover an operational period of 15 years…our tender to buy nuclear fuel conforms to the highest quality and international safety standards,” he told the semi official Arabic language daily ‘Al Ittihad’.

The UAE will be the first country in the region to have nuclear power plants for peaceful purposes under a landmark $20-billion (Dh74 billion) contract signed with a South Korean-led consortium just before the end of 2009.

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