The United Arab Emirates' first nuclear power plant will start operating within a "few months" after repeated delays to meet safety and regulatory conditions, two energy officials said Monday.

The first of the four nuclear reactors at the Barakah plant had been due to come online in late 2017, but was delayed several times.

"Operation (of the first reactor) is scheduled to start within a few months," Awaidha al-Marar, chairman of Abu Dhabi's department of energy, told reporters.