The United Arab Emirates has started loading fuel rods into the first reactor at its Barakah nuclear plant, operators said Wednesday, two days after regulators gave the green light.
On Monday, the national nuclear regulator announced it has issued the operating license for the first of the plant's four reactors, opening the way for commercial operations to begin.
"The Nawah Energy Company has commenced loading the first nuclear fuel assemblies as the initial step in the process towards safely and gradually commencing operations and subsequent generation of clean electricity," Nawah said in a statement.
The statement added that Unit 1 will begin commercial operations after a "series of tests" leading to the start-up process.
During the process, the unit will be synchronized with the power grid and the first electricity produced.
"Our teams are trained, certified and ready to safely commence the testing and start-up processes for Unit 1," said Nawah CEO Mark Reddemann.
The plant is being built by a consortium led by the Korea Electric Power Corporation at a cost of some $24.4 billion.
When fully operational, the four reactors have the capacity to generate 5,600 megawatts of electricity, around 25 percent of the nation's needs. The other three reactors are almost ready.
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