UAE could export nuclear power parts as demand heats up

• UAE makes nuclear-grade parts
• Barakah is Gulf’s first nuclear plant
• 63 reactors being built globally

The UAE could export components it has produced to build its own nuclear energy infrastructure as other countries accelerate their reactor buildouts and suppliers struggle to meet demand.

Nuclear-grade parts used in Abu Dhabi’s Barakah power plant would meet standards and specifications for other reactors, an industry executive involved in the project told AGBI.

Global interest in new nuclear – the latest energy technology including small modular reactors – is rising as governments look for stable, round-the-clock sources of low-carbon power, but supply chain capacity is a growing constraint.

The World Nuclear Association said earlier this month that tight availability of engineered components and the heavy engineering plants needed to produce the largest reactor parts is a “critical issue”.

“There are certain things that they can make here now, which are now at the quality level that can be exported,” said David Haboubi, head of nuclear and net zero energy, Middle East and Africa, at engineering group AtkinsRéalis.

Haboubi told AGBI that UAE-based industry was capable of manufacturing “parts and equipment that [are] now nuclear grade, like steel and cables”, and demand is building as more countries pursue new reactors.

The pipeline is sizable. More than 20 countries signed a declaration at Cop28 in Dubai in 2023 backing an “aspirational goal” to triple global nuclear capacity by 2050.

The International Atomic Energy Association’s reactor database shows 63 power reactors under construction worldwide in countries including China, India and Turkey. Their combined capacity is about 66 gigawatts.

AtkinsRéalis – formerly SNC-Lavalin and long active in nuclear services – has worked on the Barakah plant since 2011, providing advisory, engineering and project management support.    

Haboubi said countries’ plans to build reactors risked running into hard capacity limits. “If the world actually doubles or triples its nuclear capacity, there is not enough global capabilities, so everyone has to help each other.”

With Barakah, the UAE became the first Arab nation to operate a nuclear power plant. Its four reactors can generate about 40 terawatt-hours a year and supply up to 25 percent of the UAE’s electricity needs.

The plant’s construction generated more than $6 billion (AED22 billion) in local procurement, according to Emirates Nuclear Energy Company. The UAE government has also signalled that it may add nuclear capacity by building a second plant with up to four reactors.

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Haboubi said the ecosystem built around Barakah – regulation, operators and suppliers – gives the UAE a platform to expand its “nuclear footprint” and deepen industrial capability beyond domestic power generation.

He also pointed to long-duration work in operations, waste management and eventual decommissioning. 

“There is still, I would say, 200 years of work ahead,” he said.

This week the UAE and India agreed to explore partnership in advanced nuclear technologies, including development and deployment of large reactors and small modular reactors, as well as co-operation in advanced reactor systems, nuclear power plant operations and maintenance and nuclear safety.

“I think with the pace of growth of nuclear power… in a few years’ time, it’s going to go bananas in terms of the global industry,” Haboubi said.