President Donald Trump has sent Congress a proposed Saudi Nuclear Deal with Riyadh. The agreement covers civil nuclear energy and will only take effect if Saudi Arabia normalises relations with Israel, a US official told Reuters.
The agreement was reached in July. It would allow US companies to export civilian nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia.
Trump’s administration submitted the pact to Congress on Monday. Lawmakers now have 90 session days to review it.
Nuclear deal tied to Israel
“The president’s position has not changed,” the US official said. The official added that the agreement would move forward only if Saudi Arabia joins the Abraham Accords.
The US brokered the accords in 2020 and 2021. Israel established relations with the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan under the agreements.
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Saudi Arabia has not agreed to recognise Israel. Riyadh wants an irreversible path towards a Palestinian state before taking that step.
Major nuclear project
The proposed agreement would run for 30 years. It could lead to the construction of AP1000 nuclear reactors.
The project could be worth tens of billions of dollars. It would also benefit Westinghouse and its shareholders, including Cameco and Brookfield Asset Management.
Congress received the agreement on Monday. Congressional sources said committees were expected to begin reviewing it on Wednesday.
The pact would take effect if Congress does not reject it within 90 session days. Trump could veto a congressional rejection.
Lawmakers would need a two-thirds majority to override such a veto.
Concerns over nuclear safeguards
Some Democratic lawmakers and nonproliferation advocates have criticised the agreement.
They say the pact does not explicitly prevent Saudi Arabia from enriching uranium or reprocessing nuclear waste. Both activities can create potential pathways to nuclear weapons.
The UAE accepted similar restrictions in its 2009 nuclear agreement with Washington.
The Trump administration says the Saudi agreement contains safeguards required under US law.
Analyst Henry Sokolski said the congressional process could allow the deal to proceed without stronger restrictions. He also raised concerns about the absence of a firm Israeli normalisation requirement.=
