United Arab Emirates' (UAE) crucial law to set up a nuclear regulator for its $41 billion nuclear power program is still waiting for the approval from the UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan before work can begin, Zawya Dow Jones reported. Two entities, The Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) and Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), have been established to oversee the project.

“Nothing can happen without the law,” David Scott, executive director of Economic Affairs for the Executive Affairs Authority of Abu Dhabi, said.

The law does not has any deadline but officials had estimated that the legislation to be approved in July 2009.

“The U.A.E. will not import nuclear material or begin actual construction of related facilities until that element is firmly in place,” David Scott said.

“We haven’t got any official status on any of that,” William Travers, FANR’s director-general said in reference to the law. “It’s quite near, we hope.”

ENEC intends to award contracts in the third quarter of 2009 for the initial construction work on the first reactor. ENEC said that the UAE’s nuclear program will entail the use of Gen III and Gen III+ light-water reactors. In total, industry sources expect the project to cost in the range of $41 billion to over $60 billion.

According to the ENEC, UAE expects to construct three nuclear reactors to generate power to meet a estimated rise in power demand to over 40 gigawatts (GW) by 2020 from below 19GW at present.

The first reactor is planned to come online by 2017, as per the guidance of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and ENEC will be governed by the UAE’s FANR. ENEC envisages the safety-related concrete, the first step of the building process, will be poured in 2012.

According to the Middle East Economic Digest, three groups of contractors are shortlisted for UAE contract to construct the first reactor: a French consortium of Areva S.A,, GdF Suez and Total SA; a Korean group includes Korea Electric Power Corporation and Hyundai Engineering & Construction Company; and a third group involving Hitachi Limited and General Electric.

“Although this wide consultation has resulted in a slight delay in the issuance of the law, the benefits were significant,” said Scott.