Abu Dhabi, May 17 — A drone strike in the al-Dhafra area of Abu Dhabi ignited a fire at an electrical generator located within the wider Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant complex, officials said. Emergency teams responded immediately and brought the blaze under control.
Abu Dhabi’s media office posted on X that responders managed the incident, reporting no injuries and no impact on radiological safety. The fire occurred outside the plant’s inner perimeter, and authorities said there was no release of radioactive material.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack and the UAE statement did not assign blame. The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency had not commented publicly at the time of the report.
The strike is significant because it is the first recorded attack directly targeting the four-reactor Barakah facility since it began operations. Located in the far western desert of Abu Dhabi near the Saudi border, Barakah is the first operational nuclear power plant on the Arabian Peninsula. Built with technical cooperation from South Korea at an estimated cost of about USD 20 billion, the plant started producing power in 2020.
Analysts and officials have expressed concern that nuclear sites have increasingly become targets in active conflicts, a trend that intensified after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Iran has previously said its Bushehr nuclear plant was attacked during the current regional conflict, though Tehran reported no structural damage or radiological release from those incidents.
The Barakah strike comes amid a string of recent incidents and attacks in and around the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf shipping lanes, and at a time when diplomatic talks between Iran and the United States have stalled. Observers warn that a collapse of fragile ceasefire arrangements could widen the conflict across the Middle East and further disrupt global energy markets.
The region’s strategic chokepoint, the Strait of Hormuz, remains a focal point of tension: a substantial share of the world’s oil moved through the strait before the conflict, and Iran’s control of the waterway — combined with international naval measures and sanctions — complicates maritime and energy security.
This account is based on reporting from a syndicated feed.
