The commercial start-up of the first of four nuclear reactors that South Korea’s KEPCO is building in United Arab Emirates is set to be delayed because the local operating company is not ready to run the reactors, a nuclear industry source said. Barakah is one of the world’s few major nuclear newbuild contracts, which Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) <015760.KS> won in 2009, beating a rival consortium led by more established French reactor maker Areva . Since then, the four reactors have been built on time and on schedule, a rare feat in a nuclear industry plagued by cost overruns and multi-year delays, with the first of the four on scheduled to be completed this month. But a source familiar with the situation said that Nawah – the joint venture between the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) and KEPCO that will operate the plant – is struggling to get an operating licence, which could delay the start-up of the first plant by several months, possibly to the end of this year.
Nasdaq 4th May 2017 read more »