The first shipment of ‘UAE Made’ nuclear grade reinforcing steel, produced by Emirates Steel, was delivered to Barakah, ENEC’s selected site of the UAE peaceful nuclear energy program.
Emirates Steel is the only steelmaker in the MENA region qualified to supply Q-class (nuclear quality) reinforcing steel to the UAE nuclear energy program and the fourth company in the world to be qualified by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) to produce Nuclear Qualified reinforcing rebar.
Over a two-year period, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) collaborated with Emirates Steel to match its quality processes with the highest standards in the world and obtain ASME Material Organization certification. “In the nuclear energy industry, there is no greater priority than safety. To ensure the highest standards of safety in all aspects of our construction and operations, every product and every component must be of the highest quality standards. In order to achieve this, every supplier is subject to an extensive evaluation and assessment,” said Mohamed Al Hammadi, ENEC CEO.
“It took us more than two years to make the grade and to implement a nuclear quality system that would allow us to manufacture and supply nuclear quality products to the UAE peaceful nuclear energy program,” added Saeed G Al Romaithi, CEO of Emirates Steel.
Following the achievement of ASME certification, the first order of 45,000 tons of rebar, of which 5,000 tons are Q-class, has now been delivered to the project site at Barakah in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi. Further orders will be placed over the course of the next seven years as the construction of ENEC’s four nuclear energy plants progresses.