Millions will be made after Trade Minister Andrew Robb’s visit to Abu Dhabi, signing a deal to sell Australian uranium to the United Arab Emirates.

The deal will provide a significant boost to Australia’s uranium sector, with the UAE aiming to import about 800 tonnes per year when the trade is in full swing.

In 2012-13, Australia exported 8,391 tonnes of uranium worldwide, worth about $823 million.

The deal came after a meeting between Federal Trade Minister Andrew Robb and UAE foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah.

It means Australia will supply uranium to the Middle East for the first time.

“This Nuclear Co-operation Agreement has been secured ­because Australia is a reliable supplier of uranium, and the UAE is a responsible user of nuclear energy for civilian purposes,” Robb said after the meeting.

“The agreement reinforces Australia’s close and expanding relationship with the UAE, based on our mutually shared political, strategic and economic interests,” he said.

Australia sits on top of the most abundant known uranium reserves on the planet, about 33 per cent of all known uranium resources.

The Australian Uranium Association says if the uranium industry reaches its full potential, exports close to 28, 500 tonnes a year, which would be worth $14.2 billion to $17.4 billion per annum.

Australia will sell uranium for the UAE to use in their civil nuclear power program. The Arab nation also wants to cooperate in nuclear-related roles including the establishment of nuclear safeguards, security, safety, and nuclear science research.

The UAE wants four nuclear power plants in operation by 2020, by which time it says it would be importing 800 tonnes of Australian yellowcake per year.

Australia currently adheres to 22 different safeguard agreements with 40 separate nations, all around the sale of uranium. Safeguards include protected handling and security of radioactive material, restrictions on re-export and strict guarantees it will be used for peaceful purposes.

But Greens Senator Scott Ludlam says these measures may not be enough.

Ludlam has questioned the independence of the UAE regulator in relation to its nuclear customers.

Australia remains willing to sell its massive reserves of nuclear fuel, but appears to have little intention to create a domestic use for the clean and incredibly efficient power source.