A drone struck the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in Abu Dhabi on May 17, hitting an electrical generator outside the facility’s inner perimeter and igniting a fire. No radiation was released, no one was injured, and the plant’s reactors were not directly affected.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi described the incident as a “carefully planned attack” and warned that a direct strike on an operational reactor could have caused “a very high release of radioactivity.”
What happened at Barakah
Three drones targeted the Barakah facility. Air defense systems intercepted two of them. The third made it through and struck an external electrical generator, starting a fire but staying outside the plant’s inner security perimeter.
UAE authorities quickly restored off-site power to the affected Unit 3. Radiation monitoring showed levels remained normal throughout the incident and in its aftermath. The UAE government characterized the strike as a terrorist attack.
