ABU DHABI // Gender equality in the nuclear industry and women’s involvement in the UAE’s nuclear power programme are some of the topics to be discussed at the 24th Women in Nuclear Global Annual Conference this year.
Starting in Abu Dhabi on Monday – the first time it has been held in the Middle East – the conference aims to support and encourage women working in the nuclear industry.
“The UAE is a very big supporter of women’s empowerment and their role in the government sector,” said Hasna Al Blooshi, chairwoman of the conference’s UAE chapter and nuclear performance improvement director at Nawah Energy Company, a subsidiary of Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation.
“All our governments and organisations, including the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation and Nawah, have been big supporters for ensuring women have a role in our industry.”
Building a diverse and skilled workforce has been Enec’s plan from the start of the UAE’s peaceful nuclear energy programme, with women making up about 20 per cent of its staff.
“Our female employees work across a range of roles and disciplines, from site-based engineers and trainee senior reactor operators through to project managers,” said Mohammed Al Hammadi, Enec’s chief executive.
“Their passion and dedication to their work, and to our project, is inspiring and I believe Enec’s leadership and involvement in this conference will inspire more Emirati women to look at pursuing a rewarding career in nuclear.”
The conference will gather 320 leading nuclear professionals to mentor and offer insight to young Emirati women.
“We are hoping to open a network among them and open a dialogue between our young Emiratis and international experts,” Ms Al Blooshi said.
“We want to bring in the world to witness the UAE’s nuclear energy programme and see how women work across the organisation.”
Lady Barbara Judge, former head of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, said: “This is the newest and most successful new nuclear power build in recent memory and it will be a model for the world, particularly for new nuclear countries.
“If it is going to be a model for the world, it should have model employees and a big part of that is having women in leadership.”
The UAE’s nuclear power plant is more than 72 per cent complete. Its four reactors are expected to deliver up to a quarter of the country’s electricity needs when they become fully operational in 2020.
cmalek@thenational.ae
