The United States will collaborate with Saudi Arabia to the development of a nuclear energy industry in the kingdom. The Trump administration wants Riad invested more in America and that it purchases more American products. All the details.
The United States will collaborate with Saudi Arabia to the development of a nuclear energy industry in the kingdom. This cooperation is part of a wider memorandum of understanding on energy, presented by the American energy secretary Chris Wright: the document – not yet available – is not legally binding and does not contain financial commitments; By the next few months there are “significant developments”.
The United States wants more investments from Saudi Arabia
After the meeting with the Minister of Saudi Energy Abdulaziz Bin Salman, on 13 April, Wright made it known that bilateral discussions did not limit themselves to nuclear energy cooperation, but also concerned the extraction and refining of critical minerals, industrial development and climate change, for example.
The secretary then declared that “Saudi Arabia will be one of the main countries invested in the United States, which is an advantage for both nations”, and has said to expect an increase in the imports of American goods from Riad. The hereditary prince Mohammed Bin Salman had promised 600 billion dollar investments within the next four years in the United States.
Collaboration on nuclear power …
“Commercial nuclear energy technology was developed in the United States,” explained Wright. “We are continuing our dialogue on how the United States and Saudi Arabia can cooperate to build a commercial nuclear industry here in the kingdom”.
Riad is working to diversify its economy and reduce its dependence on hydrocarbons sales, given the international tendency to decarbonisation. According to the American secretary, the presence of uranium deposits in the Saudi subsoil benefits the country in the development of the nuclear sector. In order for the signing of a formal atomic cooperation agreement between America and Arabia, however, it is necessary that procedures against the proliferation of weapons must be defined (the so -called 123 agreement). The negotiations may take years, also considering the need for approval by the American congress: providing Saudi Arabia with the ability to produce enriched uranium is considered controversial due to the hostility between the Kingdom and Iran, which has its own nuclear program and has military ambitions.
… and on other energy technologies
In addition to nuclear power, in the American-Saudi Memorandum there is also talk of collaboration on theoil & gason petrochemical, on carbon management, on hydrogen and renewables.
