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Barakah goes greener; half a tonne waste removed

Efforts on to spruce up coastline along nuclear power plant, more than half tonne of waste removed.

Beaches and coasts cleaned up for environment and ocean days. — Supplied photo

Abu Dhabi - A team of volunteers removed more than half a tonne of waste during the World Environment and World Oceans day events held in the Abu Dhabi on June 5 and 8 respectively.

The garbage was collected from the coastline along the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation’s (Enec) Barakah plant in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi as part of two initiatives.

Entering the third year,  the annual Barakah Beach Clean-up saw more than 70 volunteers from the environment protection teams of Enec and Korean Electric Power Company (KEPCO), collect dozens of bags of waste washed ashore surrounding Barakah.

Hussain Abdulla Madhi, the corporate health, safety, environment and sustainability director of ENEC, said : “Sustainability and environment are at the heart of what we do at Enec, and the Barakah Beach Clean-up is just one among a number of proactive environmental initiatives.”

Mohammed Al Hammadi, Enec’s chief executive officer, shared his happiness to see the c volunteers “actively taking part to bring the organisation’s commitment to environmental protection.”

Enec has rolled out a number of sustainability initiatives in recent months, including an osprey nesting project, following a number of sightings around Barakah. Made from recycled wood, the nesting platforms were assembled in a secluded area of the Barakah site, close to the shoreline – the preferred habitat of the large raptor.

Enec’s Barakah “Go Green” campaign has transformed the landscape of the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant over the past two years, with the cultivation and planting of more than 1600 trees at site. To support the campaign, a plant nursery has been constructed on site at Barakah, which utilises recycled treated water from the plant’s sewage treatment facilities.

By 2020, Enec’s four nuclear energy reactors will provide approximately 25 per cent of the UAE’s electricity needs, saving up to 12 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year. More than 70 per cent of the work of unit one due to connect to the grid in 2017 is complete, with one additional unit coming online each year up to 2020. - reporters@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE