Mohamed Al-Hammadi, chief executive of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) feels that the timing and size of any future order for a second fleet of nuclear reactors would be decided by the pace of power demand growth in the fast-expanding economy of the UAE.

Last month, deal worth up to $40 billion was awarded by the UAE to a South Korean consortium, with the aim of building and operating four nuclear reactors. The deal was one of the largest ever awarded in the Middle East.

Al-Hammadi, explained, "Future plants will be dependent on demand growth. The more demand we have for electricity the more power plants we'll have to build."

Korea Electric Power Corp (Kepco) leads the consortium that targets to complete the UAE's four 1,400 megawatt reactors by 2020. It also aims at building more plants in the UAE in the future.

The foremost aim of the nuclear program would be to meet domestic demand before the World's third-largest oil exporter mulls at exporting power onto the new Persian Gulf grid.

Hammadi said, "At the moment the power generation will be for internal consumption of the UAE, and it's premature to speculate to which countries to export to now."

In 2011, the UAE will be linked up to a power grid linking Persian Gulf neighbors Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain.

This will help the UAE to export to fellow oil exporting countries, which are also short of power due to rapid economic growth fuelled by petrodollars.