Serbia and the UAE on cooperation: is the "Baraka model" good for Serbia?

Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović Handanović met in Dubai with Mohamed Ibrahim Al Hamadi, the Executive Director of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC). The main topic of the discussion was the exchange of experiences in establishing a nuclear program in countries that are just starting to adopt this technology.

The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation expressed readiness to share with Serbia its “roadmap,” which was used in the case of building the Baraka nuclear power plant and which in world circles is considered one of the more efficient models for implementing nuclear energy.

The minister stressed that ENEC can help Serbia in the key challenges of the first phase: development of expert and technical teams to operate the facilities, solutions for storage of radioactive waste and procurement of nuclear fuel, as well as with considering options for closing the financing structure and potentially Serbia's participation in the international ENEC investment program.

The minister reminded that Serbia lifted the moratorium 18 months ago and that the current phase is under way for the analysis of its justification. It is stated that a preliminary study with the French EDF has been completed; a special body within the Ministry for Program Implementation has been formed; memoranda have been signed with domestic scientific and academic institutions, and cooperation with several “global players”: France, the USA, Russia, South Korea, and now the UAE continues.

“Nuclear energy is an option that can provide Serbia with secure baseload energy in the decades to come, especially taking into account the growing consumption of industry and data centers,” said Đedović Handanović.

However, we remind that there is a radical difference between Serbia and the UAE: the Baraka nuclear power plant was built in cooperation with KEPCO, namely its subcontractor KHNP. But it is highly unlikely that the same company could be a partner for Serbia due to licensing issues for its reactors: Westinghouse, namely, claims that it owns the licensing rights and that any attempt to export this technology without Westinghouse's consent constitutes a breach of the license agreement. Precisely for these reasons, the Vestinghaus company has been “causing problems” in the case of building a reactor in the Czech Republic.

We also remind that the aforementioned preliminary study is completed and that at a press conference it was presented to the public more than six months ago, but it is still not available to the public, and it is not clear when it will be available, which is a key step in involving the public in the decision-making process regarding the construction of a nuclear power plant.