The Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation was established in 2009 to oversee the safety, security and peaceful uses of all the nation's nuclear and radiation related activities. 

FANR is the independent government body charged with regulating and licensing nuclear activities in the UAE, which includes radioactive material and radiation sources used in the nuclear sector as well as in medical, research, oil exploration and other industries.

FANR is committed to meeting the highest international nuclear safety and security standards and has used strong quality management tools to create and enforce regulations that protect the people and the environment in the UAE from potential nuclear and radiation hazards.

Yes, at FANR we remain dedicated to developing Emiratis in the nuclear sector. To this end we offer the following scholarship programmes to Emiratis:

1. MSc Nuclear Engineering (in the UAE only)
   
2. BSc Chemical Engineering (in South Korea or the US)
   
3. BSc Nuclear Engineering (in South Korea or the US)
   
4. BSc Mechanical Engineering (in the UAE, US or South Korea)
   
5. BSc Electrical Engineering (in South Korea or the US)
   
6. ​Higher Diploma in Nuclear Technology (in the UAE only)​
   

The eligibility criteria for our scholarship programmes are as follows:

• Must be an Emirati
  
• Maximum age of 20 years old
  
• Must hold a UAE Secondary School Certificate (SSC) in Science with a minimum overall pass mark of 85% [for students without the SSC, the requirements must be approved by the UAE Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research]
• Must not have any commitments to any other scholarship programme/li>
• Proof of English language proficiency, which may take one of the following forms:
• TOEFL (internet based test): 70 or above
• IELTS: 6.0 or above
• Must demonstrate mathematics competency in the SAT 1 Math component of 580, as a minimum​​

Unfortunately not. FANR only provides training for the radiation protection officers in FANR’S own Radiation Safety Department.

​CVs can be sent to career@fanr.gov.ae​

​Thank you for your interest in FANR. You will be contacted if your experience and qualifications meet the criteria of the positions available at FANR. ​

​All users of radioactive material and sources of ionising radiation in the UAE must have a licence from FANR in accordance with Federal Law by Decree No 6 of 2009, Concerning the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy.

​The application form for a FANR licence can be found by clicking on the ‘e-services’ tab on the homepage of this website.

​It usually takes two to three months to apply for a FANR licence, provided that the application form has been completed correctly.

​If you have any queries related to licensing, please feel free to contact us by email on fanr.licensing@fanr.gov.ae or by calling 02 6516 644/ 771/ 750.

​Yes, you can by simply providing us with your licence application number via e-mail to fanr.licensing@fanr.gov.ae or by calling the FANR licensing section in the Radiation Safety Department directly on 02 6516 644/ 771/ 750.​

​In accordance with Federal Law by Decree No. 6 of 2009, Concerning the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy, users must have a FANR licence before conducting any regulated activity. The construction of a nuclear facility is one of those regulated activities. In order to obtain a construction licence, the applicant/ licensee must submit to FANR an application for a construction licence and a Preliminary Safety Analysis Report (PSAR) on the design of the proposed nuclear power plant, and a summary of the associated safety analyses.

FANR reviews the PSAR and submits its findings in the form of a Safety Evaluation Report (SER). It is based on these findings that the FANR Director General will provide a recommendation to the FANR Board of Management as to whether a construction licence should be issued or denied.

The FANR Board of Management makes the final decision to issue the construction licence based upon the FANR Director General’s recommendation. FANR issues a licence authorising the applicant/ licensee to construct the facility in accordance with FANR licence conditions. The construction licence does not authorise the operation of the facility; operation of a nuclear facility is a separate regulated activity that requires a separate FANR licence and thus a separate licence application must be submitted to FANR for this activity. This application would require a separate review and assessment by FANR.

You simply need to apply to FANR by using the application form entitled ‘Application for a FANR Licence to Conduct a Regulated Activity using Regulated Materials’. This application form can be found by clicking on the ‘e-services’ tab on the homepage of the FANR website.

​The regulated activities are those stipulated in Article 25 of the Federal Law by Decree No 6 of 2009, Concerning the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy.​

​FANR is exclusively responsible for licensing all use of radiation in the UAE.​

Licensees should use the application form entitled ‘Application for a Licence to Conduct a Regulated Activity using Regulated Materials’, to apply for licence amendements. This application form can be found under the ‘e-services’ tab on the homepage of our website. ​

​Yes, but you must first apply to FANR to amend your licence to include additional radioactive sources. Your application to amend your FANR licence is subject to regulatory review and regulatory re-assessment. ​

​All licensees must follow the manufacturer’s recommendations. ​

If you intend to use any additional radioactive sources, you must apply to amend your licence to include the additional radioactive sources. Your application for such an amendment is subject to regulatory review and re-assessment.​

Yes, you must notify FANR and obtain FANR’s approval before transferring any regulated materials to another legal person as per licence condition no. 4 and in accordance with FANR Regulation for Basic Safety Standards for Facilities and Activities involving Ionizing Radiation other than in Nuclear Facilities (FANR-REG-24).​

​Yes, you can use a body scanner in a private office provided that you are capable of doing so safely whilst ensuring radiation protection is optimised and in full compliance with regulatory safety requirements.

X‑ray rooms should be of a size that allows unimpeded access and ease of movement around the equipment, the patient table and the operator’s console. The size of the room will vary greatly depending on the modality, workload, distance to boundaries, beam directions, boundary materials and occupancy of adjoining areas whether there is existing shielding or not.

For this reason there is no a specific norm for the size of any X-ray room, but it may be helpful to bear in mind that in a typical use of a dental X-ray machine with a workload of 20 films per week or less, no structural shielding is required if the distance between the patient and the wall or other boundary is at least two metres.

Extra-oral X-ray equipment and combined equipment suites must be located in a dedicated X‑ray room. An area of 12 square metres will be sufficient for panoramic radiography equipment such as orthopantomogram units.

A slightly larger area will comfortably accommodate the widely used combination of panoramic and intra-oral equipment. An alternative solution is to locate the exposure hand switch(es) outside the X‑ray room door and install a shielded lead glass viewing panel in the door; a 1mm lead equivalence will often suffice. Nevertheless, the overall level of shielding will always depend on the workload, room geometry and use/occupancy of adjoining areas.

The barriers are supported by independent safety systems designed to protect their integrity and provide a reliable containment of all radioactive material within the nuclear power plant. Compliance with FANR regulations ensures that the health and safety of the public is adequately protected when the nuclear power plant is in operation. The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), the operator, is responsible for preventing accidents as its top safety priority.

The Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi will work no differently to a nuclear power plant that is used to generate electricity. In order to generate electricity, heat is converted into steam, which in turn drives a turbine and generator to produce electricity.

For example, conventional fossil fuel power plants burn coal, oil or gas for heat to make steam, but the heat from nuclear power plants is generated when the atoms of a material like uranium is split into smaller atoms, and in the process (called nuclear reaction) they produce heat to make steam. As with fossil fuel power plants, the steam drives a turbine and generator to produce electricity.

​People who live or work near a nuclear power plant should be able to go about their daily lives without special concern for any nuclear facility, activity or material in their vicinity. ​

​Communities in the region of the nuclear power plant will be able to benefit from employment opportunities that will arise from the plant, and the local economy will also prosper.​

FANR is actively developing its Emirati employees in order to ensure the sustainability of the UAE nuclear programme. To enable this development, FANR has recruited a core team of experienced international personnel with sound training and mentoring backgrounds to work closely with a skilled cadre of Emirati personnel, and to build upon development opportunities provided by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and by bilateral partners such as the United States, France and the Republic of Korea.

The permissible dose limits can be found in Articles 10 and 11 of FANR Regulation 24 on the Basic Safety Standards for Facilities and Activities involving Ionizing Radiation other than in Nuclear Facilities. 

Yes, all licensees must inform FANR of the date and method of disposal so that the X-ray machine can be removed from the licensed inventory. Although there is no authorisation required from FANR to dispose of a disused X-ray machine, the radioactive source inside the x-ray machine shall be disposed of in accordance with FANR requirements.

Licensees are advised that there may be specific requirements relating to the presence of chemicals (i.e. oil) in some parts of the X-ray machine. Any such requirements would fall outside of FANR's remit and the relevant competent authorities should be consulted prior to disposal.

For disposal of an X-ray machine outside of the UAE, licensees must obtain an export permit from FANR in order to declare to the customs authorities that the export of an ionising radiation generator has been authorised by FANR.

Flyover permits are not required by FANR for cargo flights with radioactive material because they do not fall under FANR's responsibilities.

Regulations and regulatory guides can be easily accessed by clicking on the Rules & Regulations tab on the homepage of the FANR website. 

Yes, there is a regulation and regulatory guide that cover the transportation of radioactive materials, which are available on the FANR website. These are as follows:

• FANR Regulation for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Materials (FANR-REG-13)
• FANR Regulatory Guide for the Transportation Safety Guide (FANR-RG-06)

FANR does not accredit service providers for dosimeter or dose monitoring services or license any dosimeter providers. In accordance with Article 24(2) of FANR Regulation 24 for Basic Safety Standards for Facilities and Activities involving Ionizing Radiation other than in Nuclear Facilities (FANR-REG-24), “The Licensee shall be responsible for making arrangements for the Assessment of the Occupational Exposure of Workers on the basis of individual monitoring and shall ensure that adequate arrangements are made with approved/ licensed dosimetry services that operate under an adequate quality Management System.”

​The Qualified Expert is an individual who is duly recognised as having expertise in a relevant field of radiation protection.

The Qualified Expert's responsibilities include the following:

• Establishing the organisation's radiation protection system
• Ensuring the implementation of the organisation's radiation protection system
• Evaluating and reporting the organisation's dose measurements and assessments
• Providing consultation on radiation protection to organisational personnel
• Conducting radiation protection quality management assurance in the organisation

​Applications will be assessed within two months from the date of receipt.

FANR will review the application within the "National Strategy for Education and Training in Radiation Protection" Working Group, and will contact the candidate if further information is required.

FANR will contact the National Qualifications Authority or other UAE entity if any further clarification on equivalency of titles is needed. The "National Strategy for Education and Training in Radiation Protection" Working Group will make a decision on the acceptance of candidatures on behalf of the "Radiation Protection Committee in the State".

​If the candidate is deemed suitable, FANR will notify him or her of acceptance, and publish his or her name, telephone number and email address in the "Temporary List of UAE Qualified Experts in Radiation Protection"

​The temporary list will remain valid until the availability of the official UAE-wide qualification criteria. At that time, candidates will need to re-apply in order to be properly qualified under the full UAE Qualification Scheme.

​According to the analysis of the "National Strategy for Education and Training in Radiation Protection Working Group", a projected number of around 100 Qualified Experts may be needed in the UAE in the medium term.

​A temporary Qualified Expert will be removed from the list at the request of the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR), if he or she fails to comply with professional duties and integrity requirements.