Drone attack nearly hits UAE's Barakah nuclear plant
Sarah Shamim
A drone attack sparked a fire near the UAE's Barakah nuclear plant, raising alarms over nuclear security and military escalation in the Gulf. The plant's operations were unaffected, and no casualties were reported, as officials blamed Iran-linked groups without immediate claim of responsibility.
The Barakah nuclear plant, located in Al Dhafra, the largest urban area of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, is the only nuclear power station in the United Arab Emirates and the first such facility built on the Arabian Peninsula.
Construction began in 2012, and the first reactor entered commercial operation in 2021. The plant sits near the border with Saudi Arabia, about 225 km west of the capital Abu Dhabi.
It houses four pressurized water reactors, the most common type of nuclear reactor. The design used is the APR-1400 advanced reactor, developed by South Korea. Each unit has a capacity of 1,400 megawatts, enough to supply electricity to roughly 1 million homes.
According to the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), the plant's reactors produce 40 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year, meeting about 25% of the UAE's electricity demand. That figure is confirmed by the London-based World Nuclear Association. ENEC says Barakah helps save up to 22.4 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually, equivalent to removing 4.8 million cars from the roads.
On Sunday, a single drone attack caused a fire at a generator outside the inner perimeter of the Barakah plant. No casualties were reported, and officials said radiation levels remained normal. The UAE nuclear regulator said operations at the plant were unaffected and all units were running normally.
The UAE Defense Ministry added that two other drones were successfully intercepted, launched from the western border. The UAE Foreign Ministry condemned the unprovoked terrorist attack, stressing it would not tolerate any threat to its security and sovereignty, and reserved the right to respond.
No party immediately claimed responsibility. However, UAE presidential advisor Anwar Gargash posted on X, seemingly blaming Iran and its network of allied armed groups. The launch point of the drone remains unclear, but Saudi Arabia also reported intercepting three drones launched from Iraq. If the Iranian Shahed-136 drone, with an estimated range of 2,000–2,500 km, was fired from Iraqi territory, both Saudi Arabia and the UAE would be in range.
Neighboring Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait condemned the attack. India also criticized it as a dangerous escalation and called for a return to diplomacy.
Iran has not commented on the incident. US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social: "For Iran, time is running out, and they should act quickly, otherwise nothing will be left of them." An Iranian Defense Ministry spokesperson said the country's military was ready to counter any new act of aggression.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the incident forced one reactor to temporarily rely on emergency diesel generators. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi expressed deep concern and warned that military activities threatening nuclear facilities are unacceptable.
Attacks on nuclear power plants risk damaging safety systems or reactors, releasing radioactive material into the atmosphere, causing not only environmental contamination but also affecting public health. Acute radiation exposure can cause burns and radiation sickness, while long-term exposure increases the risk of cancer, particularly thyroid cancer and leukemia.
In the US-Israel conflict with Iran, energy infrastructure has become a target. Iran's only operating nuclear power plant, Bushehr, has also suffered multiple attacks. There are fears that damage at Bushehr could contaminate water sources across the entire Gulf region, which heavily depends on desalination plants not designed to filter radioactive materials.
