Ne base 28 feruary 2018 energy news issue 1153 by khaled al awadi

Copyright © 2018 NewBase www.hawkenergy.net Edited by Khaled Al Awadi – Energy Consultant All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, redistributed,
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NewBase Energy News 28 March 2018 - Issue No. 1153 Senior Editor Eng. Khaled Al Awadi
NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE
UAE and South Korea celebrate completion of Barakah's first
nuclear power plant reactor
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and Moon Jae-in, President of Korea, today attended a
celebration to mark the completion of the UAE's first nuclear reactor with a visit to the
Barakah power plant.
The plant is the first in the Arab world, and is part of the UAE's effort to curb its reliance
on fossil fuels and to adopt cleaner sources of energy.
Sheikh Mohammed, the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of
the Armed Forces, took to Twitter to thank the president for his country's cooperation in
the project and said their work together showed a "model relationship".
My dear friend Moon Jae-in, President of Korea, and I today viewed completion of 1st power plant
in Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant project. All thanks are due to President, our Korean friends & to
joint efforts that have resulted in1st stage of this giant project being completed.
Unit 1 of the Barakah complex will begin loading fuel in May, according to a statement from the
Ministry that was emailed to Bloomberg, although it is not yet clear when it will start generating
power.
In December 2009, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation awarded the contract for the Middle
East’s first nuclear power plant to a consortium of South Korean companies headed by the Korean
Electric Power Company, said to be worth US$20 billion.
The UAE and Korea are ambitious countries with a converging vision and an exceptional, model
relationship. We have a productive partnership which serves our higher interests and we shall do
everything to make it grow even stronger.

South Korea’s expertise was essential to the project’s success – its APR-1400 reactor is arguably
the most advanced in the world, with a design life of 60 years. Unit 1 is the first of four such
reactors that are planned for operation by 2021, Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said in
September.
It is estimated that, when completed, the plants will produce a combined 5,600 megawatts of
power, contributing almost 25 per cent of the nation’s electricity. The nuclear energy plant is
situated three hours and nearly 300 kilometres west from the centre of Abu Dhabi.
"Today's ceremony is very special. Eight members of Abu Dhabi's royal family, including the
Crown Prince, took part in the ceremony, which marks a very rare occasion in the UAE. That
shows how great their expectations are for nuclear cooperation and cooperation between the two
countries," said Kim Hyun-chul, special advisor to President Moon for economic affairs, according
to Cheong Wa Dae pool reports.
While meeting later with South Korean and UAE engineers and laborers at the plant, Moon said
the Barakah reactors were important in that they were the first South Korean reactors in a foreign
country, as well as the UAE's first nuclear reactors, but also because they have created new
possibilities for the two countries.
The cooperation model seen in the Barakah project that has successfully combined the countries'
technology and financial resources will expand and deepen in various areas from now on. In the
nuclear power plant sector, the countries will seek joint projects in third countries and bilateral
cooperation between the two countries will expand to energy, health and welfare, semiconductors,
science and technology, port operations and agriculture," the president said, according to the pool
reports.
President Moon also noted the success of the Barakah project may help South Korean companies
win new projects. He said the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi promised to give preference to South
Korean firms in future projects in western Abu Dhabi.
"The story of life you are writing with your sweat here in the UAE will be recorded as another
shining accomplishment in the history of the Republic of Korea's economic development," Moon
told the workers. "The government will do its utmost so you may continue your work here with
pride and purpose."

UAE: ADNOC awards $3.5bn in contracts to Samsung Engineering
The National - Jennifer Gnana
The signing of the two agreements was witnessed by Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of
State and ADNOC Group CEO, and Paik Ungyu, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, Republic
of Korea. The agreements were signed by Abdulaziz Alhajri, ADNOC’s Downstream Director, and
Choi Sung-An, CEO of Samsung Engineering. Courtesy Adnoc
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) awarded two contracts to South Korea’s Samsung
Engineering worth $3.5 billion to help process other crude grades as the company looks to free up
its flagship Murban grade for export markets.
The first contract worth $3.1bn will enable Samsung to process 420,000 barrels per day of crude
sourced from the offshore Upper Zakum concession, and grades of a similar nature from the
market, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company said in a statement. The second $473m contract will
recover power and water and is set to generate 230MW electricity and 62,400 cubic metres of
water per day by capturing waste heat using closed-cycle power generation technology.
"As Adnoc continues to deliver on its 2030 smart growth strategy, a number of new and exciting
opportunities exist across our value chain, particularly in the downstream, which offer the potential
to deepen and develop the longstanding relationship between ADNOC and its Korean
counterparts,” said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, group chief executive of the Adnoc Group.
The UAE, the fourth-largest oil producer in the Middle East is set to announce a downstream
strategy soon, as it looks to profit more from the sale of products. Abu Dhabi, which produces
much of the country’s oil and gas and accounts for 6 per cent of global crude reserves, aims to
double refining and triple petrochemical capacities by 2025.
Murban, the UAE’s flagship crude commands a higher price in international markets, compared
with other Abu Dhabi crude grades. The UAE lowered allocations of Murban by 25 per cent in
January in order to comply with the Opec-led restrictions on output to help boost prices and lower
inventory levels, following the oil price slump of 2015.
The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) work on the Ruwais refinery West complex
is set for completion by 2022, the company said in a statement.
The waste heat project, designed to lower the company’s environmental impact is targeting a
2023 completion timeline.

Total Reasserts Position As Dominant IOC In Mena On Back Of UAE
https://www.mees.com/
Total this week consolidated its position as the dominant IOC in the UAE and is set to emerge as
the largest in the Mena region. The firm parted with $1.45bn for stakes in two of the three
successors to Abu Dhabi’s Adma offshore concession.
Total’s latest Abu Dhabi deals (see p5) reinforce the centrality of the emirate and the wider Mena
region to its strategy. Mena is on track to provide more than 30% of Total’s liquids output for the
second consecutive year in 2018. Only Italy’s Eni, with its traditional North African heartland, has
a comparable share at around 32%, but its output is some 150,000 b/d less (MEES, 16 March).
Abu Dhabi is the single largest source of oil in Total’s portfolio, so walking away from the Adma
concession after its 8 March expiry would have been a major impact.
Total in the UAE
Total has participation and interests in joint ventures in oil, gas, electricity, fertilizers and renewable energy
sectors. In addition it is present through its blending plant Total Marketing Middle East, as well as its
trading branch TOTSA.

Since its establishment in the region 75 years ago (in 1939), Total has forged ahead in applying the latest
technology and innovation to enhance production while maintaining its emphasis on safety and
environment.
Committed to the UAE
Committed to the host country, Total has carried out many actions and activities to develop local Research
and Development, support human capacity building and contribute to sustainable development in the UAE.
Total UAE is currently engaged in a collaborative research projects, between Khalifa University of Science
and Technology (a recent merger of Khalifa University, Petroleum Institute and Masdar Institute) and
ADNOC. Total took part in setting up a new PVT Laboratory (PVT = Pressure-Volume-Temperature) at the
ADNOC Research and Innovation Center (ADRIC). With the support of Total’s Research and Development
headquarter teams’ expertise, various projects are under preparation aiming at helping the UAE to reach the
target of 70% oil recovery.
In addition and with strong focus on educational development, Total has signed up with leading local
universities to provide educational support in select subjects related to the industry as well as scholarships
for young Emiratis to study in France.
As a responsible citizen, Total in the UAE is involved in 23 initiatives associating with 13 key partnerships
extending to all the 7 emirates of the UAE.
Diverse Activities in the UAE
Total is the only international oil company working with the majority of Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas
Operating Companies and other Energy Companies: ADCO, ADMA-OPCO, ADGAS, GASCO,
FERTIL, Taweelah A1, Shams 1 and Dolphin Energy in addition to its flagship company Total Abu
Al Bukhoosh.
Total’s activities in the UAE have evolved over time to include upstream oil and gas, LNG, co-
generation and solar power, fertilizers and lubricants. In the upstream sector, through ongoing
investments in technology and by applying its regional and worldwide expertise, the Group is
contributing to Abu Dhabi’s endeavor of increasing crude oil output from 2.5 million to 3.5 million
barrels per day (Mb/d) by 2018.
KEY FIGURES

Egypt: SDX Energy spuds Ibn Yunus-1X well at South Disouq,
Source: SDX Energy
SDX Energy has announced that it has spudded its Ibn Yunus-1Xexploration well at South
Disouq, Egypt.
The Ibn Yunus-1X well, anticipated to take approx. 30 days to drill, will be targeting the same
conventional natural gas bearing Abu Madi intervals discovered in the SD-1X well in April 2017.
This is the first of a planned four well program on the South Disouq concession.
The Ibn Yunus-1X well
will be followed by two
appraisal wells (SD-
4X and 3X) in the original
SD-1X structure which, if
successful, will be used
as producers thereby
completing the base case
development plan for the
new field.
The Company, in its
technically approved
development plan by the
Egyptian authority,
forecasts a plateau rate
from the SD-1X field of 50
million standard cubic feet
per day ('MMscf/d') of conventional natural gas (SDX 55% working interest). However, with any
exploration success, the field plateau rate could potentially increase up to 100 MMscf/d. Start-up
of production at South Disouq is expected to commence in H2 2018.
The final well in the program, Kelvin-1X, will be an exploration well which, if successful, would be
tied into the facilities located at the SD-1X field. The Kelvin-1X exploration well is targeting the
same package of sands found to be productive at the SD-1X location but in a geologic structure
up-dip of SD-1X, thereby reducing the level of risk and uncertainty when compared to a
conventional exploration well.
Paul Welch, President and CEO of SDX, commented:
'I am very excited to be back drilling in the South Disouq concession. The success of the SD-1X
well proved the existence of source rock in this area which was our biggest uncertainty pre-drill.
The technical work that's been completed by our team after the first successful well has provided
us with additional confidence in our ability to identify conventional natural gas bearing intervals
within the 3D seismic data set.
'We currently have over 300 km2 of 3D seismic in the block with identified potential of up to 2
trillion cubic feet (gross) of conventional natural gas. Success at Ibn Yunus will de-risk a large
portion of that volume which would be very significant for our shareholders. I look forwarding to
reporting on our results in due course.'

Egypt : Apache plans to drill 50 oil wells next fiscal year
REUTERS/Nasser Nuri
Egypt - Apache Corporation plans to carry out an exploration programme in Egypt to drill 50 wells
in the next fiscal year through Qarun Petroleum Company and Khalda Petroleum Company.
The announcement was made during a Thursday meeting between Minister of Petroleum and
Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla and John J Christmann, CEO of Apache International, to
discuss the company’s investment plans in the coming years and its exploration activities that are
underway.
El-Molla said the meeting discussed the developments of the oil and gas industry regionally and
globally. During it, he reviewed the most important outcomes achieved by the Egyptian petroleum
sector recently, as well as the economic reforms adopted by the state, to encourage and attract
more investments in the oil sector.
The meeting also discussed the investment opportunities available to the company in the fields of
research, exploration, and production in different areas of Egypt, land and sea.
Christmann reviewed the company’s working mechanisms to increase production rates using
state-of-the-art technologies to counteract the natural decline in well productivity in its concession
areas.
He stressed the company’s commitment to plans and investment programmes to intensify
research, exploration, and development of discovered fields.

NewBase March 28 - 2018 Khaled Al Awadi
NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE
Oil prices fall on surprise U.S. inventory rise; China crude volatile
Reuters + Bloomberg + NewBase
Oil prices fell on Wednesday, with Brent falling back below $70 per barrel and U.S. West Texas
Intermediate crudes dipping below $65, pulled down by a report of increasing U.S. crude
inventories that surprised many traders.
U.S. WTI crude futures CLc1 were at $64.86 a barrel by 0201 GMT, down 39 cents, or 0.6
percent, from their previous settlement. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $69.75 per barrel,
down 36 cents, or 0.5 percent.
Traders said the dips came after the American Petroleum Institute (API) late on Tuesday reported
a surprise 5.3 million barrels rise in crude sticks in the week to March 23, to 430.6 million barrels.
Official U.S. inventory data will be published by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) late
on Wednesday. “We’ll see how the inventory data looks and whether these recent highs can be
Oil price special
coverage

challenged again. For the moment it is looking like both WTI and Brent are stalling,” said Greg
McKenna, chief market strategist at futures brokerage AxiTrader.
Wednesday’s price falls came despite top exporter Saudi Arabia saying it was working with top
producer Russia on a historic long-term pact that could extend controls over world crude supplies
by major exporters for many years.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Reuters that Riyadh and Moscow were
considering greatly extending a short-term alliance on oil curbs that began in January 2017 after a
crash in crude prices.
“We are working to shift from a year-to-year agreement to a 10 to 20 year agreement,” the crown
prince told Reuters in an interview in New York late on Monday.
AxiTrader’s McKenna said such an agreement between Russia and Saudi Arabia “effectively
means an expansion” of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), of which
Saudi Arabia is the de-facto leader but in which Russia is not a member.
In Asia, Shanghai crude oil futures saw their third day of trading continuing with high volume but
also volatility. Spot Shanghai crude futures ISCc1 were down by 4.4 percent on Wednesday, to
407.5 yuan ($64.93)per barrel by 0201 GMT.
In dollar-terms, that puts Chinese crude prices significantly below Brent and only slightly above
U.S. WTI. McKenna said he hoped Shanghai crude “gets a lot of traction and we end up with three
established global benchmarks”, but he cautioned that “the first couple of days have been
volatile.”
“It’s slowing the momentum just enough to stop us from making new highs right now,” said Phil
Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group. Inventory data this week is “going to be
critical for the mood of the market.”
Oil neared the $66.66 reached earlier this year as President Donald Trump appointed John Bolton
for national security adviser last week, signaling the U.S. may pursue a more hawkish
approach against Iran and disrupt outflows from the OPEC member. While global stockpiles are
tightening with OPEC’s production cuts, fears remain that surging American production could
thwart those efforts.

Shanghai oil futures off to robust start on second day
Shanghai crude oil futures got off to another strong start in their second day of trading on
Tuesday, with more than 16 million barrels of crude changing hands, extending the launch day’s
high volumes, data showed.
More than 32,000 lots of the most-active September contract, equivalent to 16 million barrels of
crude, changed hands in the overnight and morning sessions.
Over the first 24 hours of trading, Shanghai’s spot crude volumes made up 5 percent of the global market,
compared with 23 percent for Brent crude futures and 72 percent for the U.S. West Texas Intermediate
contract
Brent volumes have been lower than usual as much of Europe is already on holiday for Easter. By 11:14
a.m. (0314 GMT), 3,599 lots of the most-active June contract had traded, equivalent to 3.6 million barrels
of crude.
At 0316 GMT, Shanghai’s September contract was down 1.43 percent at 427.6 yuan ($68.33) per barrel.
The market launched on Monday with greater-than-expected volumes and trading activity from western
traders and Chinese state majors.
ARBITRAGE ATTRACTION
Analysts said western oil traders were attracted to Shanghai’s oil contracts for the potential arbitrage
between China’s market specifics and global oil fundamentals as reflected by U.S. West Texas
Intermediate (WTI) <0#CL:> and international Brent crude futures <0#LCO:>.
WTI crude is the main benchmark for U.S. crude grades and a crucial hedging tool for the U.S. oil industry.
Brent is priced off of North Sea oil and is a primary value marker for Europe, Africa and Middle East
crudes. Both futures contracts are commonly used by financial traders.
“Prices assessed at the Shanghai exchange will reflect China’s crude supply and demand,” said Sushant
Gupta, research director at energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

Turning Sour on China's Oil Benchmark
By David Fickling
How serious is China about setting up its new Shanghai crude oil futures as a challenger to Brent
and West Texas Intermediate?
It's certainly doing some things right. A functioning commodity benchmark requires crucial
infrastructure. First, you need enough suppliers to ensure individual producers can't have too
much influence. A spread of producers also creates stability, preventing situations like Brent saw
last year, where the failure of a single pipeline risks sending prices spiraling out of control.
Next, you need a decent array of customers. A primary reason Brent dominates, being used to
price about two-thirds of the world's oil, is that almost every barrel can be shipped from its fields in
the North Sea to any port in the world. WTI's delivery point in Cushing, Oklahoma is hundreds of
miles from the ocean, and the U.S. in any case banned crude oil exports for 40 years until 2015.
Away from the physical side of things, you need a well-honed market structure that allows
producers, consumers and traders to hedge exposure via futures and options. To be relevant to
participants in multiple countries, you also need currency hedging so that (for example) Japanese
refiners don't get side-swiped by a sudden jump in the yen against the dollar.
One thing you don't seem to need, strangely, is a grade of oil that relates closely to the stuff
consumers actually buy. Refiners in both China and the U.S. Gulf Coast process mostly medium
sour grades that are relatively dense and rich in sulfur compared with the sweet light crudes on
which Brent and WTI are based.
He Ain't Heavy
U.S. imports of light crude grades have slumped to about 10 percent of the total as domestic
production has soared. That's not harmed the WTI benchmark
Source: Energy Information Administration
That's continually cited as a problem, but touted alternatives such as Loop Sour never seem to get
off the ground -- not a great omen for Shanghai crude, another medium sour contract. Most

market participants, it seems, would rather apply the standard sourness and gravity discounts to
the most liquid benchmarks than try to set up a rival.
What does all that mean for Shanghai crude? One positive is that the contract will be based on
seven different grades, mainly from the Persian Gulf but also including China's own Shengli.
That should ensure diversity of supply. On the demand side, things aren't so attractive. As a yuan-
denominated contract, it's primarily going to be bought by China's domestic duopoly of PetroChina
Co. and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, with a smaller trickle heading to the
handful of plants operated by Cnooc Ltd. and Sinochem Group, plus the array of independent
processors known as teapot refineries.
It's in market infrastructure that things really fall down. While Shanghai is offering 15 futures
contracts with delivery dates stretching from September to March 2021, options trading -- a
fundamental building block of most commodities markets -- is only in its infancy in China. It's
barely a year since the first local commodity option, on soymeal, started trading on the Dalian
exchange. That will make hedging far more difficult.
The more profound problem is currency. While Shanghai has gone to some lengths to open the
market to international traders, very few of those players will want to find themselves at the mercy
of a currency operating with a closed capital account.
Viscous Liquid
Bid-ask spreads for sour Oman crude are far wider than those for Brent and WTI, indicating a
much less liquid market
Source: Bloomberg
Even if Chinese oil futures became the most liquid crude contracts in the world, they would be tied
to the deeply illiquid offshore renminbi. The yuan was used in just 4 percent or so of foreign-
exchange transactions in 2016, making it a less useful currency than the Australian or Canadian
dollars or the Swiss franc.
As Gadfly has argued before, there's a chicken and egg issue here. Yuan-denominated oil is seen
as a crucial part of internationalizing the renminbi as a global currency, but that goal can never
really be attained while Beijing insists on maintaining current levels of control over its capital
account. Until that changes, Brent and WTI will continue to rule this roost.

NewBase Special Coverage
News Agencies News Release March 27-2018
Three hours and nearly 300 kilometres west from the centre of Abu Dhabi, the space between
shimmering desert and dusty sky resolves into a series of massive concrete domes.
These are the reactor buildings of the Barakah nuclear power station; and their impact is more
than just on the landscape of the Western Region. Their presence is a statement of wider intent,
of the commitment by the UAE to new forms of energy and proof to the world that the country is
ready to join the nuclear power club.
Barakah will begin producing power in a matter of months, but the
story goes back nearly a decade, when the UAE first announced that
it was examining the nuclear option for its future energy needs. This
was no small commitment. The decisions proposed in 2008 would
impact lives for generations to come.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and
Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, greets the
then South Korean president Lee Myung-bak at the 2012 Nuclear
Security Summit
For some, the decision by the UAE to embrace nuclear power
seemed strange. Here was a country sitting on vast reserves of oil, surely unconcerned and
immune from any energy concerns.
Others were simply worried about the very idea of nuclear power in such a volatile region. Iran’s
decision to create a civilian nuclear power programme was widely suspected as cover for
developing nuclear weapons. In 2007, Israel – itself possessing nuclear warheads – attacked a
site in Syria because it suspected the government of Bashar Al Assad was covertly building a
nuclear reactor.
Then, in March 2011, a tsunami caused by an earthquake off the coast of Japan struck the
Fukushima nuclear power plant, causing three nuclear meltdowns and the release of significant

amounts of radiation. Within weeks, Germany announced it would shut down all its nuclear power
stations and France declared it would cut its dependence on nuclear energy by a third.
The Fukushima disaster in 2011 caused a re-evaluation of safety standards in the nuclear industry
By then, the UAE had already signed the 123
Agreement with the United States, allowing the
US to share its technology with the Emirates. To
pass a vote in Congress, certain conditions were
met. Even before this, UAE had indicated it
wanted inspections by the International Atomic
Energy Agency and was willing to forgo the
enriching and reprocessing of uranium fuel
needed to power the reactors.
Late 2009 also saw the UAE Government
pass Federal Law by Decree No 6 of 2009,
Concerning the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy, the so-called “Nuclear Law”, which
created the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (Fanr), to cover every aspect of nuclear
power, from construction to operation and eventually decommissioning, and all to international
standards.
The scale of the licensing requirements can be gauged by the number of pages submitted by the
developer of the plant, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec), in support of its
application: 35,000, or about 10 times the complete Harry Potter series.
Former UN weapons inspector Hans Blix, now the chairman of Enec's
international advisory board
The following year, Hans Blix was appointed as the chairman of Enec's
international advisory board. Blix is a former director of the International
Atomic Energy Agency, and a familiar figure on the world stage, from the
Chernobyl disaster to the hunt for Saddam Hussein’s elusive weapons of mass destruction.
In his new position, Blix will give an expert and independent assessment of the UAE’s nuclear
energy programme, reporting directly to the Government. As he wrote in this newspaper earlier
this year: “I continue to be impressed that a nuclear newcomer nation remains openly engaged,
seeking advice and making effective and appropriate decisions at each stage of development.”
Blix's presence and the international partners , including
South Korea but also wider support from the US and
other countries, such as an offer from Russian
universities to assist with training, are a demonstration
that the project has become useful in projecting the
UAE's image diplomatically as a peaceful and
sophisticated proponent of nuclear energy.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and
Ruler of Dubai, views Barakah before a Cabinet
meeting at the plant in April 2017
In a gesture of confidence, this May saw the UAE Cabinet, chaired by Sheikh Mohammed bin
Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, hold a session at the plant.

As well as convincing the international community that the UAE could be entrusted with nuclear
power, there were equally demanding technological obstacles to be overcome.
December 2009 saw the newly created Enec award the contract for the Middle East’s first nuclear
power plant to a consortium of South Korean companies headed by the Korean Electric Power
Company (Kepco) and said to be worth US$20 billion.
The collaboration is symbolised by the UAE and South Korean flags outside the main
headquarters building, but also by a brightly coloured mural where a cartoon of the Korean pop
sensation Psy prances alongside a cheerful Emirati yolla dancer.
South Korea’s expertise was essential to the project’s success. Its APR-1400 reactor is arguably
the most advanced in the world, with a design life of 60 years. The UAE ordered four for Barakah,
with construction breaking ground in 2011.
To operate and run the plant, an ambitious training scheme for young Emiratis was proposed,
taking the best and the brightest on a mission to ensure the UAE’s energy security. To date,
around 60 per cent of the workforce is Emirati, and fully 20 per cent female, the highest
percentage of any nuclear power company in the world.
“We are proud of our youth working in the biggest nuclear project of its kind internationally,” said
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid. “They are the engine for the future’s accomplishments.”
Once operating fully by 2020, Barakah is expected to meet around a quarter of the country’s
energy needs. But it will mean much more than that.

In the words of Mohamed Al Hammadi, the CEO of Enec, it will provide the backbone of the UAE’s
future energy supplies, complementing existing sources like natural gas and the developing solar
sector, but uniquely able to generate power night and day for up to 18 months without a break.
Concrete being poured for the foundations of a reactor at Barakah in 2012
It will also do so in an environmentally friendly way. Nuclear power releases nothing but warm
water; Barakah, it is calculated, will save the atmosphere from 21 million tonnes of CO2 a year, a
significant gesture from a country that historically is regarded as having one of the world’s biggest
carbon footprints.
The UAE’s Energy Plan for 2050
aims to cut CO2 emissions by
70 per cent and increase clean
energy use by 50 per cent.
These targets, and the predicted
savings of Dh700 billion, will
depend in great part on the
success of Barakah.
“The good thing about nuclear
power,” says Al Hammadi, “is
that from a security point of view
it is a clean, safe, reliable
source of energy.”
There is a room hidden deep

underground in each of the reactor complexes at the Barakah nuclear power plant, that a highly
trained group of workers hope they will never need to visit.
A view of the control room simulator in the power plant training centre
This is the last option. When all else has failed, this room is where they can shut down the reactor
and prevent a nuclear meltdown and potentially deadly release of radiation.
There is no reason why this should ever happen. Nuclear accidents make headlines – Three Mile
Island in 1979, Chernobyl in 1986 and Fukushima in 2011 – but all were preventable and the
result of human error. The reality is that there are nearly 500 nuclear power plants in the world,
almost all operating without serious incident since the mid-1950s.
Everything at the UAE’s first nuclear power plant has been designed with safety in mind. The site
is located more than 300 kilometres from Abu Dhabi city and 70 kilometres from Ruwais, the
nearest town.

The site is geologically stable and free of earthquake risk. Although on the coast, the possibility of
a tidal wave or tsunami is equally remote (and it is worth noting that Fukushima was caused by a
failure to carry out proper risk assessment rather than the wall of water ). The seaside location
also provides an inexhaustible supply of water for cooling.
People, though, are what will make Barakah work. All have undergone many months of training,
often accompanied by rigorous examinations. Much of this takes place in the Simulator Training
Centre, an exact replica of the real control rooms in each reactor building.
A wall of 14 display panels allows every aspect of the plant’s operational status to be seen at a
glance. More screens sit in front of the desks reserved for reactor operators and their supervisors,
who can diagnose faults with a right click of a mouse that instantly accesses the correct page of
the digitised handbooks that would otherwise fill an entire wall.
Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei, the Minister of Energy, on a visit to the Barakah nuclear energy plant last
year
To the left of the flashing computer display is a smaller series of panels, oddly old fashioned with
their dials, knobs and switches. This is an analogue replica of the control system, should the main
digital network become inoperable. In a third, smaller room, in a different, secure location, another
series of switches has the sole role of shutting the reactor down.
As part of their training, operatives may find themselves suddenly facing a simulated emergency,
for example, dealing with broken uranium fuel rods contaminating the water that fills the fuel
assembly.

Even though the accident is not real, the process, as one of the instructors admits, “can be a bit
stressful. But the more realistic it feels, the more we can anticipate.”
The best view of the Barakah power plant involves riding several floors in a lift and then a brisk
climb up several flights of stairs to a door the opens onto the roof of an administrative building.
It is worth the climb, and the blast of July
heat and humidity that ends it. Spread out
below is the entire site from the turbine
rooms to the outlets in the azure sea that
fills the horizon. But the view is dominated
by a series of enormous domes like an
industrialised version of a mosque. Three
are complete. The fourth, and farthest from
view, is still shrouded in scaffolding.
These are the reactor buildings, the key
element in the generation of nuclear power,
but also one of the most misunderstood.
For all the complex science that lies behind
a nuclear reactor, it produces electricity
through a process that would have been
familiar to an engineer more than 300 years
ago.
Water is heated to produce steam, then
released under pressure to drive the blades
of turbine, the motion of which produces
electricity. All power stations work in this
way, whether fueled by coal, gas or oil. To
understand the power of this steam, just
remove the valve from a heated pressure
cooker.
What is different about a nuclear power
plant is that the heat that creates the steam
is created by nuclear fission rather than
fossil fuels. Instead the reactors are
powered by uranium, a naturally occurring
chemical element, whose unstable nucleus
can create a chain reaction that in turn
generates heat.
After mining, natural uranium undergoes a number of processes, including conversion into a gas,
enrichment and cooling into a powder, before being heated and shaped into pellets.
The enrichment process increases the concentration of the uranium-235 isotope to between three
and five percent, the requirement for a nuclear reactor. Nuclear weapons require a uranium-235
concentration of more than 90 percent, so the uranium fuel for power plants cannot be used for
this purpose.

The process, of course, is far more complex than that. But the benefits of nuclear power is that it
is almost pollution-free. Unlike fossil fuel plants, it does not release any CO2 into the air. On the
other hand, it does produce radiation.
The Barakah power plant is designed for all of the benefits while mitigating the risks. It will have
four reactors, the first of which is 96 per cent complete. When the final reactor begins operating,
planned for 2020, the plant will be capable of generating 5,600 megawatts of electricity. A
megawatt is a million watts. A light bulb typically requires no more than 100 watts.
The plant uses pressurised water reactors. Uranium pellets are loading into rods, which are in turn
fitted in a group as fuel assemblies (see graphic); 241 in each reactor. Water is pumped around
the core under high pressure, heated by the process of nuclear fission.
The heat, or thermal energy, is then transferred to a secondary steam generator, a type of boiler
that superheats water so that it acquires the quality of gas. Released into the turbines, it spins the
blades of what is essentially a giant dynamo that generates electricity. This then leaves by the
rows of pylons surrounding the plant and eventually reaches our homes and businesses. It is as
simple as that.
Where it becomes more complicated is what happens next. The fuel in the assemblies is
exhausted after around 18 months, depending on demand. Nuclear reactors can produce power
night and day without a break, a distinct advantage over conventional fuel plants. And the uranium
fuel is environmentally friendly. Unlike fossil fuels it does not release carbon dioxide, a contributor
to climate change, into the atmosphere. The C02 savings for Barakah have been calculated at 21
million tonnes a year.
But the fuel at a nuclear power plant does have to be changed. At the end of their useful life, the
uranium filled assemblies are removed and replaced with fresh supplies. Disposing of the old fuel
is the biggest issue with nuclear power for two reasons. Firstly, because they are radioactive and
secondly, because in the wrong hands they can be used as the basis for creating a nuclear
weapon, either as part of a so-called “dirty bomb” or recycled to make a conventional atomic
warhead.
The UAE has agreed it will neither enrich uranium nor re-process spent fuel. In the first instance,
the spent rods will be cooled in steel-lined pools and then moved to dry casks, built of concrete
and with another steel lining. Finally, they will be sent overseas for disposal.
These are the issues to come. The cooling process can take up to 10 years, and storage in dry
casks can last for 60 years. Nuclear power is not just a commitment for our generation, but for our
grandchildren and their grandchildren.

NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE
The Editor :”Khaled Al Awadi” Your partner in Energy Services
NewBase energy news is produced daily (Sunday to Thursday) and
sponsored by Hawk Energy Service – Dubai, UAE.
For additional free subscription emails please contact Hawk Energy
Khaled Malallah Al Awadi,
Energy Consultant
MS & BS Mechanical Engineering (HON), USA
Emarat member since 1990
ASME member since 1995
Hawk Energy member 2010
Mobile: +97150-4822502
khdmohd@hawkenergy.net
khdmohd@hotmail.com
Khaled Al Awadi is a UAE National with a total of 28 years of experience in
the Oil & Gas sector. Currently working as Technical Affairs Specialist for
Emirates General Petroleum Corp. “Emarat“ with external voluntary Energy
consultation for the GCC area via Hawk Energy Service as a UAE
operations base , Most of the experience were spent as the Gas Operations
Manager in Emarat , responsible for Emarat Gas Pipeline Network Facility &
gas compressor stations . Through the years, he has developed great
experiences in the designing & constructing of gas pipelines, gas metering &
regulating stations and in the engineering of supply routes. Many years were spent drafting, &
compiling gas transportation, operation & maintenance agreements along with many MOUs for the
local authorities. He has become a reference for many of the Oil & Gas Conferences held in the
UAE and Energy program broadcasted internationally, via GCC leading satellite Channels.
NewBase : For discussion or further details on the news above you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE
NewBase March 2018 K. Al Awadi

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