Context: Recently, UAE become the first Arab country to produce nuclear energy, after its Unit 1 at the Abu Dhabi-based Barakah nuclear power plant get operational.
Operationalised by 

• Nawah Energy Company has started up unit 1 of the Barakah nuclear power plant, located in the Al Dhafrah region of Abu Dhabi. 
• Nawah is the joint venture nuclear operations and maintenance subsidiary of Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation and the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO).

Key Points

• Barakah was built by a consortium led by the Korea Electric Power Corporation.
• The plant is located on a sparsely populated strip of desert on the Persian Gulf coast. It has 4 nuclear reactors.
• It will have a total capacity of 5,600 megawatts, which is almost a fifth of the country’s current installed generating capacity.
• Its first nuclear reactor has achieved first criticality.
• This has opened the way for commercial operations.

Importance

• The UAE is the first country in the Arab world, and the 33rd nation globally, to develop a civil nuclear power programme. 
• Barakah plant is significantly contributing to the nation's efforts to move towards the electrification of its energy sector, and the decarbonisation of electricity production. 
• When fully operational, the plant will produce 5.6 GW of electricity while avoiding the release of more than 21 million tonnes of carbon emissions every year that would otherwise have been produced using fossil fuels.