Emirati women make up 10% of workforce in UAE's Barakah nuclear power plant

Emirati women now make up about 10 percent of the people working at the UAE s nuclear energy plant Barakah and 20 percent of the employees at the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), Mohamed Al Hammadi, ENEC s Chief Executive Officer, said at the 24th Women in Nuclear (WiN) Annual Global Conference here.

"Emirati women are expected to play an increasingly important role in the UAE s nuclear industry and we are capable of attracting more of them into the industry," he said.

According to Al Hammadi, 220 trainees are enrolling in ENEC s nuclear scholarship programme that offers students a unique opportunity to become engineers at the forefront of the UAE's nuclear energy industry, including 64 female trainees.

"In 2008, there was only one nuclear engineer who is now representing the UAE in the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, and today we have more than 200 Emirati engineers and over 200 students enrolling in the Higher Diploma in Nuclear Technology,'' he noted.

The conference is being held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union, Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation and President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood.

Hosted by ENEC for the first time in the Middle East, the three-day conference celebrates women s achievements in the nuclear space and inspires them to be involved in all aspects of the nuclear industry, including energy and healthcare.

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