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The United States and Saudi Arabia have signed an agreement to use US technology and expertise to build a civil nuclear programme in the Gulf country. The deal has raised concerns about lack of safeguards to prevent nuclear material being diverted to produce nuclear weapons.
The multi-billion dollar agreement is for 30 years and, according to the US Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, it is aimed at meeting the “energy needs” of Saudi Arabia which plans to stop burning so much oil and gas for electricity generation to cut its carbon emissions and free up more oil for export.
Reportedly, Saudi Arabia could get its own uranium enrichment facility following a two-year joint study that will assess whether such a plant is necessary. The US says it would then have oversight of any enrichment and processing of spent fuel from nuclear reactors to ensure it could not be diverted into making nuclear weapons.
Saudi Arabia is party to the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as a non-nuclear weapons state and is legally bound not to have nuclear weapons, but critics of this agreement argue that a Saudi nuclear programme could provoke a regional arms race and risk the further spread of nuclear weapons. They point to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s threat that Saudi Arabia would develop the bomb if Iran gets one.
When the US struck a similar accord with the United Arab Emirates in 2009, it included a provision that the UAE would not enrich uranium or process spent fuel from its reactors. There is no such stipulation in this agreement; neither is Saudi Arabia required to agree an Additional Protocol to its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
ICAN's Head of Policy Alicia Sanders-Zakre
The Head of Policy at the Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Alicia Sanders-Zakre, said: “This is a highly irresponsible deal by the US that calls into question its commitment to preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. The Additional Protocol is the highest standard of international nuclear inspections and Saudi Arabia, and any other state with nuclear facilities, should negotiate one with the International Atomic Energy Agency without delay. We urge the US to think again and for the US Congress to ensure any such agreement contains the strongest safeguards to prevent proliferation.”
The US has made this agreement with Saudi Arabia while it is involved in an illegal war of aggression against Iran which has been partly justified on the grounds that Iran’s nuclear programme could be used to develop a weapon. This calls into question the sincerity of US concerns over nuclear proliferation in the region, something that was already in question given Washington’s refusal to even acknowledge the existence of Israel’s nuclear arsenal.
The agreement has to be approved by the US Congress, but given President Trump’s Republican Party has a majority in both houses, it is unlikely that it will be blocked.