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UAE's Barakah nuclear plant and regional atomic programmes; what you need to know
Located in Abu Dhabi's Al Dhafra region, Barakah is the Arab world's first commercial nuclear power station; it supplies up to 25 per cent of the UAE's electricity needs
- PUBLISHED: Mon 18 May 2026, 5:22 PM
[Editor's Note: Follow the Khaleej Times live blog for the latest regional developments with the US-Israel-Iran ceasefire now in effect.]
A drone strike on Sunday caused a fire at an electrical generator outside the inner perimeter of the United Arab Emirates' Barakah nuclear power plant.
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Authorities confirmed safety levels were unaffected and no radioactive material was released.
Below are details about the Barakah plant and other nuclear programmes in the Middle East:
Barakah nuclear power plant
Located in the Abu Dhabi emirate's Al Dhafra region, Barakah is the Arab world's first commercial nuclear power station.
Its four South Korean-designed APR1400 reactors are fully operational with a 5,600-megawatt capacity.
It supplies up to 25 per cent of the UAE's electricity needs, freeing up natural gas for export and reducing carbon emissions.
The $20-billion construction contract was awarded in 2009 to a consortium led by Korea Electric Power Corporation, marking South Korea's first nuclear technology export.
Construction began in 2012 and the first reactor was connected to the grid in 2020, while the fourth unit began commercial operations in 2024.
The programme is built on a 2009 bilateral US-UAE 123 Agreement, named after Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and regarded as the highest non-proliferation standard.
The UAE committed to this standard, legally renouncing domestic uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing in return for US nuclear know-how and materials.
Saudi nuclear ambitions
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, also wants to develop a civilian nuclear energy programme to diversify its energy mix and make more crude available for lucrative exports.
The administration of former US President Joe Biden previously tied US nuclear assistance to the normalisation of Saudi-Israeli ties. But when US President Donald Trump revived talks in 2025 he delinked a nuclear deal from Saudi recognition of Israel, Reuters reported.
A major sticking point remains Riyadh's resistance to a strict 123 Agreement. Saudi Arabia wants to maintain the right to mine and enrich its own uranium, raising US proliferation concerns.
Iran's Bushehr plant and nuclear programme
Bushehr, on Iran's Gulf coast, is the country's only operational civilian nuclear reactor.
Initially supported by West Germany in the 1970s, it was eventually revived and completed with Russian assistance and connected to the grid in 2011. Russia's Rosatom supplies and retrieves the fuel, and the facility operates under IAEA safeguards.
The West has long accused Tehran of seeking nuclear weapons, an allegation Iran denies.
Under a 2015 deal with world powers, negotiated with the administration of former US President Barack Obama, Iran agreed to strict limits on its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.
In 2018, Trump unilaterally withdrew Washington from the deal and reimposed sanctions.
In response, Tehran gradually breached the 2015 agreement's restrictions and began amassing a stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 per cent purity, closer to the roughly 90 per cent grade needed for a nuclear bomb.
In June 2025, US and Israeli bunker-buster munitions targeted Iran's heavily fortified enrichment sites. Intelligence assessments suggest the strikes buried Tehran's highly enriched uranium deep underground.
Retrieving the estimated 440kg stockpile of 60 per cent enriched uranium remains a hurdle in deadlocked talks to end the Iran war.
Trump, however, last week downplayed the urgency of confiscating the buried stockpile.
Egypt's El Dabaa plant
Egypt is constructing its first nuclear power plant at El Dabaa on the Mediterranean coast.
Built by Rosatom and financed largely by a Russian loan, it will feature four VVER-1200 reactors with a 4,800 MW capacity.
The first reactor is expected to begin commercial operations in the second half of 2028, cementing Moscow's role as a primary nuclear technology supplier in the region.