US -Saudi Arabia Nuclear Deal:
The US and Saudi Arabia signed a landmark Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement governed by Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (commonly known as the “123 Agreement”) along with a Bilateral Nuclear Safeguards Agreement, establishing the framework for a 30-year civilian nuclear partnership.
- The US announced that the agreement would proceed only if Saudi Arabia joins the Abraham Accords and normalises diplomatic relations with Israel, making the deal geopolitically contingent.
- Establishes a 30-year multi-billion-dollar civil nuclear partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia.
- Enables the transfer of civil nuclear materials, equipment, technology, and expertise from the US to Saudi Arabia.
American nuclear companies will receive priority in developing Saudi Arabia’s civilian nuclear infrastructure. - Saudi Arabia will initially import nuclear fuel for its nuclear reactors.
- The agreement provides for a two-year joint feasibility study to assess the commercial viability of uranium enrichment in Saudi Arabia, potentially under a “black box” arrangement in which sensitive enrichment technologies remain under US control.
- If found viable, US companies will build and operate uranium enrichment facilities in the Kingdom, while sensitive enrichment technology will not be transferred to Saudi Arabia.
- Unlike the US -UAE Civil Nuclear Agreement (2009), Saudi Arabia is not required to permanently renounce uranium enrichment or spent fuel reprocessing (the so-called ‘Gold Standard’).
- The agreement does not mandate Saudi Arabia to adopt the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Additional Protocol, limiting the scope of intrusive inspections.
- However, critics argue that the agreement could set a precedent that gradually weakens global nuclear non-proliferation norms by legitimising the spread of dual-use nuclear technologies.
