Saudi Arabia advances nuclear ambitions with uranium enrichment
The Saudi Arabian government announced on Monday further developments in its nuclear program, according to Reuters. Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman stated plans to enrich and sell uranium.
The minister mentioned that Riyadh will continue its efforts to build the country's first nuclear power plant, and the second in the region.
- We will enrich uranium and then sell the intermediate product for nuclear fuel production - announced bin Salman during a conference in the city of Dhahran in eastern Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi Arabian government aims to invest in nuclear energy
To help fund the construction of the nuclear power plant, the authorities in Riyadh also intend to increase the export of mineral resources.
The Saudi nuclear program began in 2010, and Riyadh is expanding it in cooperation with companies primarily from Japan and South Korea. Additionally, at the end of the previous decade, an agreement was reached with China National Nuclear Corporation to explore and exploit uranium deposits in Saudi Arabia.
Reuters noted that as recently as 2018, bin Salman said that Saudi authorities would decide on developing their own nuclear weapons program depending on Iran's position on the issue.
The only currently operational nuclear power plant on the Arabian Peninsula is located in the United Arab Emirates and is also the only such facility in Arab countries. When opening its first unit in April 2021, UAE authorities committed not to enrich uranium or process spent nuclear fuel.
