The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) has announced the successful completion of a 6,700-sq-m artificial reef, roughly the size of a football field, on the shorelines of Barakah, UAE.

Developed in partnership with the National Marine Dredging Company and in line with guidance from Enec’s environmental regulator, the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, the Barakah artificial reef project is just one of the proactive environmental initiatives being implemented by the company to ensure the long-term sustainability of the natural areas surrounding the Barakah site.

The artificial reef has been set up at a site located 3.8 km from the shoreline of Barakah, the home of the UAE’s peaceful nuclear energy programme.

It was built using recycled moulded concrete core-locs originally utilised in the assembly of Barakah’s coastal breakwater, said a statement from Enec.

Almost 1,800 of the large concrete units were carefully positioned on the ocean floor using a GPS (global positionining system)-aided crane to create the underwater reef structure.

The lattice formation of the reef has been designed to replicate a natural coral reef, and works to stimulate the local ecosystem by improving the existing seabed habitat, providing additional shelter for marine life, and encouraging biodiversity.

The enhanced habitat is expected to attract a range of marine species including algae, invertebrates such as barnacles, corals, and oysters, and a variety of small and large fish, it added.

On the new project, CEO Mohamed Al Hammadi said: “Sustainability is at the heart of what we do at Enec, and we are consistently looking for ways to protect and enhance our natural environment. The completion of the Barakah artificial reef project in the waters off the coast of our site is an excellent example of the positive measures we are implementing in line with our environment and sustainability charter.”

Enec, he stated, had rolled out a number of other sustainability initiatives in recent months, including an intensive water conservation campaign which has seen the installation of water-efficient faucets at the plant, the development of an innovative car-washing facility that recycles more than 80 per cent of the water it uses, and the application of recycling methods to reuse water from the project for uses such as irrigation.

Collectively, these efforts have helped reduce Barakah’s water consumption by up to almost 100,000 gallons per day – the equivalent of more than 55 Olympic-sized swimming pools over the course of a year, he pointed out.

Al Hammadi said the company had outlined its commitment to operating in an environmentally-conscious manner in its Barakah environment and sustainability charter- an agreement co-signed by Enec and its prime contractor, Kepco.

The charter sets out a series of obligations for both parties to ensure that environmental protection, habitat preservation, water and energy conservation, and sustainable waste management best-practices are consistently applied at site, he added.-TradeArabia News Service