WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Officials from the United States and the United Arab Emirates will exchange diplomatic notes on Thursday bringing into force a landmark peaceful nuclear cooperation cooperation deal, the State Department said on Wednesday.

The pact, which President Barack Obama approved in May and sent to Congress for a 90-day review period, is potentially worth billions of dollars to General Electric Co and Westinghouse Electric, a subsidiary of Toshiba Corp.

The administration of former President George W. Bush signed the agreement with the wealthy Gulf state just days before leaving office in January.

The UAE is the world’s third-largest oil exporter, but it is planning to build a number of nuclear reactors to meet an expected need for an additional 40,000 megawatts.

Obama endorsed the agreement after a national security review determined it would not pose an “unreasonable risk” to the United States.

Although some lawmakers raised concerns about UAE’s close trade ties to Iran, there was no push in either the U.S. House of Representatives or Senate for a vote to block the pact.

The Obama administration has called the agreement a model for the region that contains unprecedented commitments that ensures the UAE will not use American technology to develop a nuclear weapon or to help others in the region do that.

The UAE has pledged not to enrich uranium or reprocess used nuclear fuel and to import all fuel for its nuclear reactors.

The exchange of the diplomatic notes is the final step for the agreement to go into force. That move comes as concern over Iran’s nuclear program prompted the House on Tuesday to approve new sanctions on Tehran.

The bill authorizes Obama to levy sanctions on energy companies that directly provide gasoline to Iran along with the firms that provide insurance and tankers to facilitate the fuel shipments.

The Senate is likely to approve a similar bill, but it is uncertain how soon it will vote.

(Reporting by David Alexander and Doug Palmer, editing by Anthony Boadle)