UAE's Barakah plant starts loading fuel into KEPCO-built 2nd reactor

SEOUL, March 15 (Yonhap) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has started a process to insert fuel rods into the second reactor at the Barakah nuclear plant, according to South Korea's state-run utility Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) Monday.

KEPCO and the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp. (ENEC), the operator of the Barakah plant, said they kicked off the process starting last week.

The UAE completed the insertion of fuel rods into the first reactor in March last year.

The fuel rod injection came after the UAE issued an operating license for the second unit earlier this month.

In 2009, a KEPCO-led consortium won a US$20 billion contract to build four nuclear reactors in Barakah, 270 kilometers west of Abu Dhabi, marking South Korea's first export of its homegrown commercial atomic power plant.

South Korea has been building four units of the APR1400, an advanced pressurized water nuclear reactor with a capacity of 1,400 megawatts.

The first reactor was completed in 2018 and currently awaits full-fledged commercial operation this year.

When the four reactors are completed, they will be responsible for roughly a quarter of the Middle East nation's energy demand.

colin@yna.co.kr
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