The UAE has selected Bakra in the west of the country as the preferred site to build a nuclear power complex, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) said on Thursday.

The UAE plans to build a fleet of four nuclear reactors at Bakra on the Gulf coast, with combined capacity of 5,600 megawatts. In December, it awarded a South Korean consortium a deal worth up to $40 billion to build and operate the complex.

The site was selected due its proximity to water and the power grid and distance from large population centres, ENEC spokesman Padriac Riley told reporters. The site was favourable for security, construction, potential evacuation and seismic history, he added.

Once approved, preparation work would start at the site and the first concrete poured in 2012, Riley said. ENEC evaluated 10 sites for the complex, he said.

Sparsely-populated Bakra is in the west of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, which leads the seven-member federation of the UAE. Bakra is over 100 kilometres from the Saudi border.

The nearest population centre is 53 km away to the east at Ruwais, location of the UAE's largest oil refinery, Riley said.

In December, the UAE awarded a $20 billion contract to build the reactors to a consortium of Korean companies including Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco), Hyundai Engineering & Construction, Samsung C&T and Doosan Heavy Industries.

Jointly operating the complex could net the consortium another $20 billion over 60 years.

The UAE has said it would build more reactors if power demand warranted, and the South Korean consortium has said it hopes to win the contract for additional plants.   

UAE officials have estimated that annual peak demand for electricity is likely to rise to more than 40,000 megawatts by 2020, reflecting cumulative annual growth of about 9 per cent.

Abu Dhabi, which is driving the UAE's nuclear programme, is home to about 95 per cent of the country's hydrocarbons resources. - Reuters