US President Donald Trump has approved an agreement granting Saudi Arabia access to a civilian nuclear energy programme, according to reports by The Wall Street Journal and Reuters.
The proposed agreement could also open the way for uranium enrichment activities inside the kingdom, subject to further technical and political assessments.
Citing US administration officials, The Wall Street Journal reported that the agreement would run for 30 years and could be worth tens of billions of dollars.
The deal is expected to give American companies a leading role in developing Saudi Arabia’s nuclear infrastructure, while limiting the participation of competing foreign companies.
One of its most significant provisions would allow US companies to establish a uranium enrichment facility in Saudi Arabia, provided a joint US-Saudi assessment determines that the project is viable.
The report said Trump had not made nuclear cooperation conditional on Saudi Arabia normalising relations with Israel, marking a departure from the approach pursued under former President Joe Biden.
Reuters separately cited two sources as saying the Trump administration planned to submit a nuclear technology-sharing agreement to the US Congress in the coming days.
The document, known as a Section 123 Agreement, was reportedly signed by US Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman.
The sources said the proposed agreement did not contain some of the guarantees previously sought by Washington to prevent nuclear materials from being used in weapons programmes.
The two countries signed an initial agreement in Riyadh last year as part of efforts to develop cooperation in peaceful nuclear energy.
The final arrangement is expected to face scrutiny in Congress, particularly over uranium enrichment and nuclear non-proliferation safeguards.
Follow the latest news on Google News
