The UAE is to honour workers in the country’s nuclear and radiation fields.
The “professional day of nuclear and radiation sector workers” will be marked annually on February 16.
Agreed by the UAE Cabinet and announced by the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (Fanr) on Thursday, it will honour the thousands of Emiratis and residents who work in the field in jobs including as engineers, inspection officers and safety workers.
The day marks the date three years ago that Fanr granted an operating licence to the first unit of the UAE’s Barakah nuclear power plant.
Barakah is the Arab world’s first nuclear power facility and, once fully operational, will supply about 25 per cent of the UAE’s electricity needs.
Two units of the plant are currently generating electricity out of a planned four.
“The annual celebration … will shed light on the success stories, the achievements and tireless efforts made by the workers in both the nuclear and radiation sectors in the UAE,” said Hamad Al Kaabi, the UAE’s permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
