The U.S. is reportedly set to resume talks with Saudi Arabia to secure a lucrative deal for the construction of nuclear reactors in the kingdom, under which Washington may pave the way for Riyadh to develop nuclear weapons by allowing it to enrich uranium.
The talks were frozen under the former U.S. administration after the Saudis refused to accept Washington’s non-proliferation “gold standard” for civil nuclear cooperation deals.
The standard prohibits the recipient of the technology from enriching uranium and reprocessing plutonium, which could be used to produce fuel for nuclear weapons.
Under President Donald Trump, however, the two sides have resumed discussing nuclear cooperation, despite Riyadh’s continued insistence on bypassing that standard.
U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry will meet with Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy and Industry Khalid Bin Abdulaziz al-Falih in London on Friday in “a crucial step” in the Trump-era nuclear discussions, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
The report said Washington is considering whether to give into Riyadh’s demand in return for the regime to pick US contractors for building reactors in Saudi Arabia.
The kingdom seeks to set up 16 nuclear power reactors over the next 20 to 25 years at a cost of more than $80 billion.
Analysts say the U.S. may be ready to give up the “gold standard” in an attempt to prevent the profitable agreement from going to other potential contractors, including Russia and China.
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This article has been adapted from its original source.
