A drone strike has sparked a fire on the perimeter of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), raising new concerns over a potential new regional escalation amid a fragile ceasefire between Iran and the United States.
Authorities in Abu Dhabi said the blaze broke out at an electrical generator outside the plant’s inner perimeter in the Al Dhafra region on Sunday. No injuries were reported, and officials said radiation levels remained normal.
Diesel generators at nuclear plants serve as emergency backup power sources to ensure the operation of critical systems, such as reactor cooling, during power outages. They help maintain safety and prevent accidents by providing power until the main power source is restored. aggpower.com mtu-solutions.com
So this seems to be a warning that this was a precise targeting which, if push comes to shove, destruction of backup up power may occur leading to nuclear meltdown of the plant.
Any country with nuclear power stations must surely run this risk in conflict situations where current military drones can now be so accurately aimed.
So I asked, how many countries have nuclear power plants?
Answer:
Nuclear power plants operate in 31 countries around the world. These countries generate about a tenth of the world’s electricity from nuclear energy. World Nuclear Association Wikipedia
Here is an extract from a historical list of nuclear power plants hit by Russia:
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Ukraine: Current status of nuclear power installations
Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Ukraine. Image: Ralf 1969, Wikimedia Commons
Last updated: 24 April 2026
Over four years after the war in Ukraine began, the NEA continues to collect information from verifiable and reliable sources to support its members’ efforts to maintain an understanding of the state of nuclear safety and radiological protection in that country. The OECD has continued to further broaden, deepen and strengthen its engagement and co-operation with Ukraine. The NEA, in partnership with the United Kingdom, has launched an NEA-Ukraine Visiting Experts Programme, which has brought Ukrainian nuclear energy experts to the Agency.
Because our Ukrainian colleagues are faced with a highly uncertain, ever-changing and very challenging situation it is to be expected that obtaining detailed information on a regular basis may not be possible.
Electricity grid
The electricity grids of Ukraine and Moldova were successfully synchronised with the Continental European Grid on 16 March 2022.
Nuclear power plants
In Ukraine 15 pressurised water reactors of Russian VVER design are operated by the State Enterprise National Nuclear Energy Generating Company “Energoatom” at four plants. These plants operate under nuclear safety regulations implemented by the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU).
16 April 2026: The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) lost connection to the 330 kV Ferosplavna-1 backup power line, resulting in a complete loss of off-site power for more than two hours to the plant. Emergency diesel generators ensured continued cooling and other essential safety functions were maintained until the Ferosplavna-1 line was reconnected.
14 April 2026: The ZNPP lost connection to the same Ferosplavna-1 backup power line for approximately 90 minutes, during which time the plant relied on emergency diesel generators to maintain nuclear safety and security functions during the outage.
24 March 2026: The 750 kV external power line Dniprovska, which provides the electricity needed to ensure continued cooling and other essential safety functions, was disconnected due to military activity.
6 March 2026: The back-up 330kV power line Ferosplavna-1 was reconnected to the ZNPP after repair works were carried out under a local ceasefire brokered by the IAEA.
3 March 2026: The Russian operating entity at the ZNPP announced that IT functions at the plant were to be placed under the jurisdiction of KONSIST-OS, an integrator and IT competence centre of the Electric Power Division of Rosatom.
19 January 2026: The ZNPP’s last remaining back-up 330 kV line, damaged and disconnected as a result of military activity on 2 January, was reconnected. Until its restoration the plant had been entirely dependent on its sole functioning 750 kV line for the electricity it needs to ensure continued cooling and other essential safety functions.
10 February 2025: The ZNPP’s single 330 kV back-up off-site power line was disconnected, reportedly because of military activity.
30 December 2025: Power transmission between the electrical switchyards of the ZNPP and the nearby Zaporizhzhya Thermal Power Plant was restored. The connection is important as it offers a key route for electricity supplied by one of the ZNPP’s two available power lines, a 330 kilovolt (kV) line.
13 December 2025: Both the 750 kV kV external power line Dniprosvska and the 330 kV Ferosplavna-1 backup power line were disconnected, resulting in a complete loss of off-site power for more than two hours to the ZNPP. Emergency diesel generators ensured continued cooling and other essential safety functions were maintained until the external power lines were reconnected.
6 December 2025: The 750 kV external power line Dniprosvska and the back-up external 330 kilovolt (kV) Ferosplavna-1 line supplying the ZNPP were cut at 3:21 local time on 6 December. The electricity required to cool the six reactors in their current cold shutdown state and for other nuclear safety and security functions in ZNPP was provided by on-site emergency diesel generators until external power was restored. The Ferosplavna-1 line was reconnected 29 minutes after power was lost. The Dniprovska main power line was reconnected at 11:13 local time.
Extract from Wajeeh Lion re the attack on Barakah:
The Barakah facility, constructed with South Korean technological assistance, supplies approximately 25% of the UAE’s electricity and is the first commercial nuclear power station on the Arabian Peninsula. The targeting of this facility marks an unprecedented escalation, bringing a nuclear reactor site into the crosshairs of offensive proxy warfare.
While official attribution was withheld, the strike exhibits the hallmarks of Iranian strategic signaling, likely executed by proxy forces such as the Houthi movement or the Islamic Resistance in Iraq. The UAE hosts Israeli Iron Dome missile defense batteries and U.S. Air Force assets, including MQ-4C Triton drones, at the nearby Al Dhafra Air Base. By executing a strike that caused psychological disruption without a mass-casualty radiological catastrophe, the orchestrators demonstrated their capability to penetrate Emirati airspace at will. This action operates as extreme kinetic leverage, designed to fracture the Gulf-U.S. coalition by demonstrating that the global energy supply and sovereign infrastructure of American allies will be held hostage if the blockade continues.
Retired, living in the Scottish Borders after living most of my life in cities in England. I can now indulge my interest in all aspects of living close to nature in a wild landscape. I live on what was once the Iapetus Ocean which took millions of years to travel from the Southern Hemisphere to here in the Northern Hemisphere. That set me thinking and questioning and seeking answers.
In 1998 I co-wrote Millennium Countdown (US)/ A Business Guide to the Year 2000 (UK) see https://www.abebooks.co.uk/products/isbn/9780749427917
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