The UAE’s Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) has unveiled the Intelligent Operational Nuclear Safety System (IONS) in collaboration with Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC).
This initiative seeks to enhance the safety and resilience of nuclear facilities against the potential impacts of climate change. As an environmental and climate monitoring system, IONS will provide real-time information surrounding Barakah Nuclear Power Plant such as land and sea surface temperature, vegetation health, air quality, earthquakes and others that are both occurred and are expected to happen, including the location and severity.
The system will be equipped with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create future models of expected climate change based on special algorithms. IONS comes as a part of the performance agreement for 2023-24, with an aim to implement national priorities and meet the requirements of the UAE’s next phase of development. This also falls in line with the vision “We the UAE 2031” which aims to make the UAE “the safest country in the world”.
Salem Humaid Al Marri Director General-MBRSC
“Our collaboration with FANR to launch the Intelligent Operational Nuclear Safety reflects our commitment to contributing to the UAE’s goals in advanced technology and sustainability. The advanced technologies of MBRSC’s satellites allow us to collect accurate, real-time data on climate and environmental changes. This improves the system’s accuracy and provides more reliable forecasts that help make informed decisions to maintain the safety and security of the country’s nuclear facilities.”
Christer Viktorsson, FANR Director-General, stated that, “The UAE government is committed to address the impact of climate change by taking the necessary measures to mitigate such consequences. In collaboration with the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, we developed the innovative IONS that will play significant role in strengthening the oversight and resilience of nuclear facilities against the external events and climate change threats in the UAE, with the help of AI technologies to carry out our mandate to protect the community, workers and environment.”
IONS is expected to support UAE in achieving its net zero goals by guaranteeing the safe operation of nuclear facilities. It will help the operator and the regulator by offering an advanced tool that can monitor, predict and manage risks, especially those related to the climate change.
