The United States has signed a landmark civil nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia, paving the way for the kingdom to build American-designed nuclear reactors and enrich uranium in a move expected to deepen energy cooperation while raising fresh concerns about nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.
The agreement was signed on Wednesday by U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The pact, known as a 123 Agreement, creates the legal framework for the transfer of U.S. nuclear technology, equipment and expertise to Saudi Arabia for peaceful civilian purposes.
The deal marks the end of years of negotiations that stretched across President Donald Trump's first administration and that of former President Joe Biden. Previous efforts failed to produce an agreement because of concerns that the arrangement could eventually provide Saudi Arabia with the capability to develop nuclear weapons.
Unlike proposals discussed during the Biden administration, the newly signed agreement does not include the International Atomic Energy Agency's Additional Protocol, which allows more detailed inspections of nuclear facilities.
The agreement also permits Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium and reprocess spent nuclear fuel. While both activities are used in civilian nuclear energy programmes, they are also viewed as technologies that could be used in the production of nuclear weapons.
The U.S. Department of Energy said the agreement meets the non-proliferation standards required under the U.S. Atomic Energy Act, describing those safeguards as among the strongest in the world.
Saudi Arabia has previously maintained that if it failed to secure a nuclear partnership with the United States, it would pursue similar agreements with China or Russia, whose nuclear cooperation arrangements follow different non-proliferation standards.
The agreement will now be forwarded to the U.S. Congress for review. Lawmakers will have 90 legislative session days to consider it, and unless Congress votes to block the deal, it will automatically take effect. Any attempt to override a presidential veto would require the support of a two-thirds majority.
The agreement is expected to remain in force for about 30 years and is valued at tens of billions of dollars. It is also expected to benefit Westinghouse, the U.S. nuclear technology company jointly owned by Canada's Cameco and Brookfield Asset Management.
The proposed deal has already drawn criticism from arms control advocates, who are urging lawmakers to reject it or introduce changes before it becomes law.
"We urge all members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to recognize the risks and to exercise their power to reject or modify Trump's proposed nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia so as not to open the door for nuclear proliferation in the Middle East even wider," said Kelsey Davenport, director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association.
An industry source said the agreement first requires a feasibility study to determine how U.S. nuclear technology can be deployed in Saudi Arabia, adding that the construction of reactors and uranium enrichment facilities is expected to take many years.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has previously said the kingdom does not seek nuclear weapons but would pursue them if Iran were to acquire one. That position continues to fuel concerns among arms control campaigners and some U.S. lawmakers, who warn it could increase the risk of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
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