Abu Dhabi: UAE University (UAEU) has been granted licensing approval from the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) for the use of radioactive materials, marking another step towards building a capable national workforce for nuclear research.
Ever since the UAE embarked on the path towards nuclear energy, it has worked to ensure that a national workforce will be ready to enter the sector for its continued growth and sustainability.
“We applied for the licence three years ago as per the regulations of the government that any equipment that deals with radioactive material needs to have approval from FANR. With the licence we will now be able to go into detailed studies related to nuclear research, nuclear physics, and other types of research in different departments using radioactive materials,” Dr Ahmad Murad, Dean of Science at UAEU, told Gulf News.
“Our research will be conducted in our university laboratories, and this will help us train our students to use such equipment, and so essentially we are helping to build the capacity of the nation in the field of nuclear technology, which is in line with the agenda of both the university and the country,” he added.
Dr Murad also pointed out the importance of having world-class research opportunities available for students.
“There is a big demand for basic science and nuclear research, and if there are students who have the knowledge of basic science, this will allow them to become pioneers in the field,” he said. “If we look at some of the top countries from around the world, all of them have a strong focus on providing basic science research, and this is what we also want to focus on,” he added.
With the licensing approval also comes the chance to form new academic programmes, according to Dr Murad, which is what the university will be looking at as it continually seeks to keep up with the demands of the nuclear energy sector.
“We are confident that this research will help towards the knowledge-based economy of the UAE, but at the same time the outcomes of the research will take a few years. During that time we will be able to think about new academic programmes to open because we now have the needed infrastructure in place,” he said.
