Continued from Page 1

world’s top oil exporter, has also said it plans to build nuclear reactors. Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan hailed Barakah’s completion as a “significant step on the journey towards net zero”. “We will continue to prioritize energy security and sustainability for the benefit of our nation and our people today and tomorrow,” he said in a post on social media platform X.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the plant “will have to be disassembled at the end of its useful life, in around 60-80 years”. The UAE, which is made up of seven emirates, including the capital Abu Dhabi and economic hub Dubai, is one of the largest oil producers in the OPEC cartel. The country was largely built on oil but is spending billions to develop enough renewable energy to cover half of its needs by 2050.

Last year, it hosted the COP28 UN climate talks which resulted in an agreement to “transition away” from fossil fuels. The UAE lies across the Gulf from Iran which has a Russian-built nuclear power plant outside the coastal city of Bushehr, as well as a controversial uranium enrichment program. The UAE has repeatedly said its nuclear ambitions are for “peaceful purposes” and ruled out developing any enrichment program or nuclear reprocessing technologies. —AFP

The country uses gas-powered stations for much of its electricity needs, but also has one of the world’s biggest solar plants outside Abu Dhabi. – AFP