DUBAI: The Barakah nuclear energy plant has achieved full capacity at its unit 1 operation, and is now capable of supplying 1,400 megawatts to the UAE’s power grid, the largest single source of electricity in the country.
This major milestone brings the Barakah plant one step closer to commencing commercial operations, scheduled in early 2021, state news agency WAM said in a report.
Achieving 100 percent power is one of the final steps of the Power Ascension Testing phase of the start-up process for Unit 1. Nuclear operators will carry out a series of tests before the reactor is safely shut down in preparation for the check outage.
During this period, the Unit 1 systems will be carefully examined, and any planned or corrective maintenance will be performed to maintain its safety, reliability and efficiency prior to the commencement of commercial operations.
The Barakah nuclear facility, located in the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi, is one of the largest nuclear energy new build projects in the world, with four APR-1400 units.
Construction of the plant began in 2012 and has progressed steadily ever since. Units 3 and 4 are in the final construction stages at 93 percent and 87 percent completion respectively, while the Barakah complex as a whole is now more than 95 percent complete.
UAE’s Barakah Unit 1 reaches 100% power capacity, commercial operations to begin early 2021
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UAE’s Barakah Unit 1 reaches 100% power capacity, commercial operations to begin early 2021
- Achieving 100 percent power is one of the final steps of the Power Ascension Testing phase
Syria’s Sharaa grants Kurdish Syrians citizenship, language rights for first time, SANA says
- The decree for the first time grants Kurdish Syrians rights, including recognition of Kurdish identity as part of Syria’s national fabric
- It designates Kurdish as a national language alongside Arabic and allows schools to teach it
DAMASCUS: Syria’s President Ahmed Al-Sharaa issued a decree affirming the rights of the Kurdish Syrians, formally recognizing their language and restoring citizenship to all Kurdish Syrians, state news agency SANA reported on Friday.
Sharaa’s decree came after fierce clashes that broke out last week in the northern city of Aleppo, leaving at least 23 people dead, according to Syria’s health ministry, and forced more than 150,000 to flee the two Kurdish-run pockets of the city.
The clashes ended after Kurdish fighters withdrew.
The violence in Aleppo has deepened one of the main faultlines in Syria, where Al-Sharaa’s promise to unify the country under one leadership after 14 years of war has faced resistance from Kurdish forces wary of his Islamist-led government.
The decree for the first time grants Kurdish Syrians rights, including recognition of Kurdish identity as part of Syria’s national fabric. It designates Kurdish as a national language alongside Arabic and allows schools to teach it.
It also abolishes measures dating to a 1962 census in Hasaka province that stripped many Kurds of Syrian nationality, granting citizenship to all affected residents, including those previously registered as stateless.
The decree declares Nowruz, the spring and new year festival, a paid national holiday. It bans ethnic or linguistic discrimination, requires state institutions to adopt inclusive national messaging and sets penalties for incitement to ethnic strife.
The Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), that controls the country’s northeast, have engaged in months of talks last year to integrate Kurdish-run military and civilian bodies into Syrian state institutions by the end of 2025, but there has been little progress.
