US says it reaches nuclear power deal with Saudi Arabia
BAM•US and Saudi Arabia reach civil nuclear agreement
The U.S. and Saudi Arabia have reached a landmark agreement on civil nuclear power, the U.S. Energy Department said on Wednesday, a deal that allows the kingdom to build nuclear reactors using American technology and to enrich uranium.
A civil nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia has been in the works for years during both President Donald Trump's first administration and that of former President Joe Biden.
No deal has come together before now, however, in part because of warnings from nonproliferation groups who say that it could offer Saudi Arabia a path to develop a nuclear weapon.
Unlike the Biden plan, the current deal does not include a so-called Additional Protocol that allows the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency to carry out intrusive snap inspections.
The deal would also allow Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium and reprocess nuclear waste, both of which are potential pathways to making a nuclear weapon. The UAE agreed to forgo both of those when it signed a similar deal with the U.S. in 2009.
