A fire broke out after a drone strike near the Barakah nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates, without causing any injuries or causing an increase in radioactivity, the media office of the local government of Abu Dhabi announced this Sunday, May 17.
“Authorities in Abu Dhabi responded to a fire at a power generator outside the internal perimeter of the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant (…) following a drone strike†“, the office said in a press release. “No injuries were reported and no impact on radiological safety levels was noted,” according to the same source which did not specify the origin of the shot.
“The Federal Nuclear Regulatory Authority (FANR) confirmed that the fire had not compromised the safety of the plant nor the availability of its essential systems, and that all units were operating normally,” we can also read.
For its part, the International Atomic Energy Agency expressed its “deep concern”.
The Admirals, Iran’s target
Built by a South Korean consortium led by the energy supplier KEPCO, the Barakah nuclear power plant began operations in 2020. It produces 40 terawatt-hours per year and covers up to 25% of the electricity needs of the Emirates, a rich country oil tanker, according to the public operator Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC).
Located more than 200 km west of the capital Abu Dhabi, the plant is located close to the borders of neighboring Saudi Arabia and Qatar. It is thus closer to the Qatari capital Doha than to the major population centers of the Emirates.
The United Arab Emirates were the second country in the region to acquire a nuclear power plant, after Iran, and the first in the Arab world.
Since the start of the war in the Middle East, triggered by an Israeli-American offensive against the Islamic Republic on February 28, the Emirates have been targeted by more than 2,800 missiles and drones, wiping out most of the salvos of Iranian retaliation among the Gulf monarchies.
The United Arab Emirates, allies of Washington, are among the rare Arab countries to have normalized their relations with Israel, following the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020.
Earlier this month, the Emirates blamed the Islamic Republic for a drone strike against an energy facility in Fujairah, in the east of the country, which Iran denied.
Iran has repeatedly accused the Gulf states of allowing US forces to carry out attacks from their territories and this week tensions rose after media reports emerged of strikes carried out directly by the UAE and Saudi Arabia against Iran during the war.
