Key Takeaways
- US President Donald Trump has approved a historic civilian nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia.
- The deal, expected to be signed on Wednesday, could pave the way for uranium enrichment in the kingdom under US oversight.
- Supporters argue it will strengthen US-Saudi relations and revive the American nuclear industry.
US President Donald Trump has approved a landmark civilian nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia, according to The Wall Street Journal. This deal is expected to be signed on Wednesday by US Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman before being submitted to Congress for review.
The proposed 30-year agreement, valued at tens of billions of dollars, aims to give American companies a leading role in developing Saudi Arabia’s civilian nuclear infrastructure while limiting the involvement of rival foreign suppliers. A central feature is a joint US-Saudi study that will assess whether uranium enrichment in Saudi Arabia is commercially viable.
If the study supports the proposal, American companies would build and operate the enrichment facility under a 'black box' arrangement to prevent the transfer of sensitive nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia. According to US officials, this arrangement would allow Washington to oversee the program and ensure that enriched uranium is used only for peaceful purposes.
The agreement includes strong safeguards to ensure the program remains exclusively civilian and complies with international nonproliferation standards. If Congress does not block the agreement, it could become one of the most significant US-Saudi strategic partnerships in decades.
Supporters argue that this deal will strengthen US-Saudi relations and revive the American nuclear industry. Westinghouse Electric is expected to be among the biggest beneficiaries, with its AP1000 nuclear reactor likely to play a central role in the program.
However, critics have raised concerns about allowing uranium enrichment in Saudi Arabia, arguing that it could encourage other Middle Eastern countries to pursue similar capabilities and increase the risk of nuclear proliferation. Nonproliferation experts also point out that Saudi Arabia’s refusal to adopt the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Additional Protocol, which allows for more extensive international inspections, is a cause for concern.
The agreement marks a shift from the previous US administration's approach under former President Joe Biden, who had linked nuclear cooperation with Saudi Arabia to the kingdom's normalization of relations with Israel. The Trump administration has removed that condition but continues to pressure Iran to curb its nuclear program and surrender its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
US officials maintain that the proposed agreement includes robust safeguards to ensure the program remains exclusively civilian and complies with international nonproliferation standards.
