The Barakah Nuclear Power Plant site is situated at Barakah in the Al Dhafra Region of Abu Dhabi, approximately 53 kilometres west-southwest of the city of Ruwais. Barakah was selected as the site for the UAE’s first nuclear power plant following a comprehensive analysis that lasted for 12 months and involved the evaluation of multiple locations across the UAE, while considering the following factors:
- History of seismic activity.
- Distance from large population centers.
- Proximity to large supplies of water.
- Proximity to existing electrical power.
- Proximity to infrastructure.
- Favorable construction, security, and evacuation route conditions.
- Environmental considerations.
The selection process was executed in adherence to the best practices and standards from the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR), the Electric Power Research Institute, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The Barakah site was granted final approval from the regulatory bodies of the Peaceful Nuclear Energy Program, FANR and the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) in July 2012.