Inside Saudi Arabia's Global Push for Nuclear Power

For years, Saudi Arabia has been pressuring the United States to help it develop a nuclear energy program, because Saudi leaders don't rely solely on oil to power their country.

But talks of a nuclear partnership have dragged on, especially since the Saudi government has refused to agree to terms meant to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons or helping other countries do so, according to officials familiar with the discussions.

Frustrated Saudi officials are now exploring options for working with other countries, including China, Russia or US allies.

At the same time, they renewed push with the United States – their preferred partner – by offering to try to normalize relations with Israel in exchange for US cooperation in building a nuclear reactor and other guarantees.

New details of the Saudi endeavor provide a window into the recent difficulties and mistrust between Washington and Riyadh, and into the foreign policy that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is pursuing: greater independence from the United States as he expands partnerships with world powers. others, including China.

Some analysts say it is part of a strategy to pressure Washington to cooperate with the Saudi government on its own terms; others say the prince sees an emerging multipolar world in which the United States plays a less dominant role. Saudi Arabia also agreed in March to a restoration of diplomatic ties with Iran after China acted as an intermediary.

The Saudi nuclear drive raises a scourge of proliferation that has unsettled some American officials: Prince Mohammed, the kingdom's de facto ruler, has said Saudi Arabia will develop nuclear weapons if Iran does. Every civilian nuclear program has a dual-use element that can assist a country in producing weapons material.

But Prince Mohammed also believes he has the right to exploit the kingdom's potentially vast uranium deposits for energy and export. It would create a new source of revenue for the kingdom and could give Saudi Arabia more geopolitical weight. China is already cooperating with Saudi Arabia uranium search.

Speaking at a conference in Riyadh in January, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, energy minister, said plans to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel – including for export – were even “more important” than the reactors proposed in Saudi Arabia. The energy ministry said in a statement that the bidding process for the two reactors involved “several technology vendors” and expected to receive proposals soon.

Enrichment ambitions make some US officials nervous, even if Saudi Arabia's switch to nuclear power would go hand in hand with the Biden administration's support for low-carbon energy.

“They have a legitimate case to make about needing to use their uranium to produce energy so they can sell what's left of their oil before it runs out or the market crashes or something else happens,” said Hussein Ibish, a scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute at Washington.

The United States requires nations to meet high nonproliferation standards before cooperating on nuclear programs, including in some cases banning uranium enrichment and fuel reprocessing on their soil. The details are listed in a 123 deals, which was negotiated by the Department of State with advice from the Department of Energy. The pact must be reviewed by Congress, which can block it.

Saudi officials have refused to commit to the restrictions, which would undermine their goal of enriching and selling uranium.

Even if Saudi officials express a willingness to sign the 123 agreement, any deal will face significant political hurdles in Washington. President Biden distrusts Prince Mohammed and lashed out at Saudi Arabia during the outburst over Riyadh's oil policies in October. And many Democrats and some Republicans say Saudi Arabia has become a destabilizing force.

“Absolutely not,” Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, said in an interview when asked if he would support a deal that would allow Saudi Arabia to use US nuclear technology. “It's not a starter.”

The White House and State Department declined formal interview requests, and the department will only answer written questions. The US and Saudi officials who spoke did so on condition of anonymity.

The State Department said the United States had been negotiating the deal with Saudi Arabia since 2012 but declined to provide details. Trump administration officials and advisers encourage nuclear effortsoften tacitly—an initiative opposed by some senators, citing Saudi Arabia's human rights record and the potential for the development of nuclear weapons.

The State Department said the Biden administration is “committed to supporting Saudi Arabia's clean energy transition, including its efforts to develop a peaceful nuclear energy program.” The department added that the United States requires the “highest international standards” of “safety, nonproliferation, export control, and physical security.”

The Saudi energy ministry said the kingdom's “peaceful nuclear power program” would be based on “transparency and international best practice,” and would cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency and countries that have signed general agreements with Saudi to assist with nuclear energy. That includes China, Russia, South Korea and France.

Some Saudi officials believe that the United States has become an unreliable partner that has swung policy wildly and is unable to realize security and economic cooperation.

The kingdom's champion of American and Saudi nuclear power saw an opening as President Donald J. Trump sought to build ties with Prince Mohammed.

The energy endeavor began early in the administration, as a consortium of American companies, including Westinghouse, expressed interest in Saudi Arabia's proposed nuclear reactor project. Michael T. Flynn, Mr. Trump, and Thomas J. Barrack Jr., an investor who was chairman of Mr. Trump's inaugural committee. Trump, pushing for US involvement.

Those initial efforts stalled after the two men got into separate legal troubles over other dealings with foreign officials.

Democratic lawmakers opened an investigation into the nuclear attempt and issued a report saying White House lawyers had questioned the legality and ethics of the proposed attempt. It doesn't discourage administration. Rick Perry, energy secretary, took the lead.

Mr. Perry was kicked out seven authorizations to American companies allowing them to transfer non-classified US nuclear technology — but not physical equipment — to Saudi Arabia.

However, American officials say they failed to come up with the 123 deals they said Congress would approve.

In September 2020, Trump held a White House ceremony where the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain agreed to normalize relations with Israel in a pact called the Abraham Accords. Saudi leaders told the White House that nuclear cooperation was a condition for their countries to join, said a former senior administration official. But Mr Trump left office before an agreement could be reached.

“Nuclear for me is where you want to go,” Perry said in an interview at an investment conference in Riyadh. But in baseball terms, he said, talk under Trump only came down to the “second” inning.

He paused for a moment, then added, “The top of the two.”

As the Biden administration insists on certain protections, Saudi officials continue to watch non-American companies.

One of the highlights is South Korea-based Korea Electric Power Corporation, or Kepco. A company spokesman said Kepco was talking to US officials about its nuclear program and was interested in working with Saudi Arabia but declined to go into details, citing nondisclosure agreements with the Saudis.

But the government of South Korea, a US ally, is likely to bar the company from the project if Saudi Arabia does not sign a strict nonproliferation agreement with the government or the International Atomic Energy Agency. The company said it hopes “conditions for participation in the project will be created.” And the complicating factor is a legal disputes between Kepco and Westinghouse over the reactor design.

The French bidder will enter similar situation. And working with Moscow will not appeal to Riyadh because of the American and European-led sanctions imposed on Russia.

Although Saudi officials consider American nuclear technology the best option, they are open to considering Chinese technology. Saudi Arabia and China have forged closer ties recently, including oil and military cooperation.

China has built Saudi Arabia's ballistic missile arsenal for decades and sent military officers to work on the program, current and former US officials say. And with Chinese technology, Saudi Arabia is now able to do it build their own missiles, they say. New satellite imagery showing bulldozer activity at previous missile sites suggests Saudi Arabia could harbor a new type of missile underground, said Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear nonproliferation expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.

The missile program is separate from any nuclear energy endeavors, but it shows how closely China works with Saudi Arabia on highly technical and sensitive projects.

The Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, visited Saudi Arabia in December after nearly three years of pandemic isolation. Him and King Salman issue a statement in which they pledged “to cooperate in the peaceful use of nuclear energy.”

While visiting Saudi Arabia in 2016, Xi oversaw the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to help build the reactor.

Chinese nuclear companies have also offered to help explore and develop the country's uranium resources. In 2017, the China National Nuclear Corporation and the Saudi Geological Survey signed a memorandum of understanding on surveys of uranium deposits. In 2021, the Saudi Geological Survey issued “award certificateto the Beijing Uranium Geological Research Institute for assistance in exploring uranium and thorium resources.

In the last three or four years, China has helped Saudi Arabia develop six to eight uranium prospecting sites in the west of the country, Lewis said. They have not yet built the milling and processing plants needed for uranium enrichment.

Edward Wong reported from Washington, Vivian Nereim from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Kate Kelly from Riyad and Washington. Reporting contributed by Chris Buckley in Taipei, Taiwan, and John Yoon And Jin Yu Young in Seoul.