UPDATE 1-WorleyParsons signs Egypt atomic consultancy deal

(Adds cabinet statement, detail)

CAIRO, June 18 (Reuters) - Egypt said on Thursday it had signed a deal with Australia's WorleyParsons (WOR.AX) for a nuclear power plant consultancy worth around 900 million Egyptian pounds ($160 million).

The firm will begin by looking into potential locations for the plant, Egypt's first, including updating studies on the Dabaa site on the Mediterranean coast, where Egypt planned to build a power station in the 1980s, the cabinet said in a statement.

The company will also prepare five other potential sites for future nuclear plants, including Safaga, Hamam Firaon and al-Negeila, Egypt's Electricity Minister Hassan Younes told reporters at the signing ceremony.

"This is an important step ... in achieving the aim of transforming Egypt into a pivotal regional hub for all forms of energy," Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said, according to the cabinet statement.

Under the 10-year contract, WorleyParsons will also choose the technology for the reactors, ensure quality control for the project, train personnel to run the power plant and provide other technical services, the statement said.

WorleyParsons won the contract after talks with initial favourite U.S.-based Bechtel Power Corp stalled.

The engineering services firm had come in second after Bechtel in the tender held by Egypt to pick a consultant for its first nuclear power plant.

Egypt said in October 2007 it will build several nuclear power stations to meet its growing energy needs and has had nuclear cooperation offers from China, Russia, France and Kazakhstan.

Egypt ratified the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1981 but said last year it would not sign an additional protocol that would give the U.N. nuclear watchdog the right to make intrusive short-notice inspections of nuclear facilities. ($1 = 5.6038 Egyptian pounds) (Reporting by Ashraf Badr, Writing by Maha El Dahan)