United States President Donald Trump has officially submitted a\nproposed civil nuclear energy agreement with Saudi Arabia to Congress,\ninitiating a mandatory review period that could open access for the\nkingdom to advanced US nuclear technology. A US official confirmed the\nsubmission of the document, stating that the agreement led by the\nDepartment of Energy is fully in line with the Atomic Energy Act. The\nfiling was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n
The president\u2019s position reportedly remains unchanged regarding the\nkey condition of the pact. The massive deal will only proceed if Saudi\nArabia agrees to join the Abraham Accords. The agreement, reached in\nJuly, allows US companies to export civil nuclear technology to Saudi\nArabia. The 30-year deal also requires the kingdom to build AP1000\nreactors.<\/p>\n
The reactor project is worth tens of billions of US dollars and would\ngreatly benefit Westinghouse, a company now jointly owned by Canadian\nentities Cameco and Brookfield Asset Management. The US Congress now has\n90 continuous session days to review the agreement. The pact will\nautomatically take effect if there is no formal rejection from\nparliament.<\/p>\n
Trump indicated last month that the terms of the deal would\nabsolutely prevent Saudi Arabia from enriching uranium. \u201cThere will be\nno enrichment of material! This agreement is entirely contingent upon\nSaudi Arabia joining the highly respected and successful Abraham\nAccords,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n
However, several Democratic lawmakers and non-proliferation advocates\nhave sharply criticised the pact. They argue that the deal does not\ninclude a permanent ban on enrichment or reprocessing, and that it\nsignificantly weakens standard controls against military use. Instead,\nthe agreement merely proposes an enrichment facility built and operated\nby the US, which would be subject only to a two-year feasibility\nstudy.<\/p>\n
Matthew Kroenig, a senior researcher at the Atlantic Council think\ntank, highlighted the risks of the deal in July. \u201cWashington does have\nthe right to strengthen its relationship with Riyadh, but it should not\ndo so at the expense of its nuclear non-proliferation standards,\u201d he\nexplained. Kroenig predicted that the two-year feasibility study would\nultimately conclude that Saudi Arabia should rely only on imported fuel\ncycle services, which he argued is far better than exporting bomb-making\ncapabilities to an already volatile region.<\/p>\n
Erin Dumbacher, a senior nuclear security researcher at the Council\non Foreign Relations, noted that this historic agreement comes at a time\nwhen the global nuclear order is beginning to fray. The former US\nDepartment of Defense official assessed that Trump\u2019s move is very\ndifferent from America\u2019s strict approach in the past. \u201cThis is a\nslippery slope towards more countries possessing nuclear materials\nwithout the measures that have kept the total number of nuclear-armed\nstates at just nine,\u201d she said. \u201cMore uncontrolled nuclear materials\naround the world could lead to accidents, security risks, and more\nproliferation,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
On the geopolitical front, Riyadh has indicated that it will not\nnormalise relations with Israel unless an independent Palestinian state\nis recognised. This bargaining position has reportedly hardened since\nthe Gaza war erupted in 2023. The situation is growing increasingly\ntense amid the threat of weapons of mass destruction proliferation in\nthe Middle East. Saudi officials have previously stated plainly that the\nkingdom would pursue nuclear weapons capability if its rival, Iran,\nsucceeds in developing them.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/with-trumps-approval-king-salman-one-step-closer-to-securing-nuclear-site-1787741528", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }