In the world punctuated with startups, the oil-rich United Arab Emirates (UAE) has taken the phenomena to a new height by announcing the startup of its nuclear power plant, named as ‘Barakah’ – the first of its kind in the Arab world. This is, of course, a proud moment for the UAE to become the first operator of the peaceful nuclear energy plant in the Arab world, which was relished by the UAE’s ruler, Sheikh Muhammad bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, who tweeted: “Congratulations on realising this historic achievement in the energy sector & marking this milestone in the roadmap for sustainable development”. According to Hamad Alkaabi, the UAE representative to the International Atomic Energy (IAE), “the nuclear reactor at the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant has achieved first criticality and successfully started up,” calling it “a historic milestone for the nation with a vision set to deliver a new form of clean energy for the nation”. Started in 2018, the venture has been delayed until February last when the UAE began loading fuel rods into the reactor, after the IAE allowed for the first of the plant’s four reactors. In the world of today when the race for clean energy is on, the UAE has opened the way for atomic energy for commercial operations. Even though the UAE has oil and gas reservoirs, the growing need for energy has put the Arab nation to the track of the clean alternatives, and this must be lauded. Once done, the four reactors can generate 5,600 megawatts, around 25 per cent of the nation’s needs. But more than that, the plant is meant to elevate the status of the country. Earlier, on July 20, the UAE launched the first Arab space mission to Mars, an unmanned probe. The good part of the startup is its transparency from the very first day. Barakah is being undertaken by a consortium, led by the Korea Electric Power Corporation, at $24.4 billion. But the plant has attracted controversy because of its proximity to Qatar as it is located on the coast facing Iran across the Gulf, just 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Saudi border and closer to Qatar’s capital Doha than to Abu Dhabi. Qatar says any leakage to the plant will adversely impact its population and that the UAE may go for a uranium enrichment programme and nuclear processing technologies. The good thing, however, that the UAE has opened it to international watchdogs for regular inspections. *