U.S. Revives Talks With Saudi Arabia on Transfer of Nuclear Technology

The Trump administration has revived talks with Saudi officials over a deal that would give Saudi Arabia access to U.S. nuclear technology and potentially allow it to enrich uranium, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Sunday.

The deal — which the Biden administration had pursued as part of a broader agreement for Saudi Arabia to establish ties with Israel — would enable the kingdom to develop a “commercial nuclear power industry,” Mr. Wright told journalists in Riyadh. He added that he expected to see “meaningful developments” this year.

“We’ve not reached the details on an agreement, but it certainly looks like there is a pathway to do that,” he said. “The issue is control of sensitive technology. Are there solutions to that that involve enrichment here in Saudi Arabia? Yes.”

Asked whether the talks were tied to Saudi Arabia’s agreeing to “normalize” diplomatic relations with Israel, Mr. Wright said only that “relationships are always package deals” and that there were many potential areas of cooperation between the two countries.

For years, Saudi Arabia has pressed the United States to help it develop a nuclear energy program, as Saudi officials look beyond oil to provide energy and diversify the economy. But talks on a nuclear partnership stalled, partly because the Saudi government refused to agree to conditions intended to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons or helping other nations do so.

A crucial sticking point, for example, has been whether the kingdom would import uranium or enrich it domestically, which could theoretically enable it to produce uranium for use in nuclear weapons.

The deal gained momentum under the Biden administration when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, offered to establish diplomatic relations with Israel in exchange for cooperation on building nuclear reactors and other concessions from the United States, including security guarantees. Those talks faltered after the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza upended the Middle East, deepening support for the Palestinians and enmity toward Israel across the region, including in Saudi Arabia.

Over the years, frustrated Saudi officials had also explored obtaining nuclear technology from other countries, including China and Russia.

“It’s critical that it becomes the United States as the partner,” Mr. Wright said on Sunday. “The fact that may have been in doubt is probably indicative of unproductive relationships between the United States and Saudi Arabia in the last several years.”

The deal faces several obstacles. The United States requires countries to meet high standards of nonproliferation before cooperating on a nuclear program, including in some cases banning uranium enrichment and fuel reprocessing in their territory. The pact must be reviewed by Congress, which can block it.

In the past, members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have expressed opposition to an agreement, including Marco Rubio, who is now secretary of state.

Detractors of the deal say that it is too risky; Prince Mohammed has repeatedly said that Saudi Arabia will develop nuclear weapons if Iran — its regional rival — does.

At the same time it is negotiating with Riyadh, the Trump administration has restarted nuclear talks with Iran in an effort to contain Tehran’s growing nuclear program, after the United States withdrew from a multilateral 2015 agreement in the first Trump presidency.

Prince Mohammed has also pushed for a deal that would allow domestic uranium enrichment. He believes that the kingdom has vast uranium resources, although so far, exploration has yielded “severely uneconomic” deposits, according to a report by the intergovernmental Nuclear Energy Agency and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Supporters of the deal argue that if the United States does not get involved, Saudi Arabia will obtain nuclear technology from a country that requires fewer safeguards.

Trump administration officials visiting Riyadh had discussions with Saudi officials about energy, mining, critical minerals and climate change, Mr. Wright said. A broader agreement on increasing cooperation between the two countries to develop energy resources will be signed “at a later date,” he said.

American officials did not discuss oil prices or production levels with their Saudi counterparts, Mr. Wright said.

President Trump has said that he wants energy to be cheaper and that he would “ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down the cost of oil.” Oil prices have fallen by around $10 a barrel since he imposed tariffs, and then reduced many of them, on U.S. trading partners around the world.

But the kingdom needs higher prices to finance Prince Mohammed’s spending plans, including a pledged $600 billion increase in trade and investments in the United States — an amount equivalent to two-thirds of the entire Saudi sovereign wealth fund.

Mr. Wright, who was a fracking executive before his appointment as energy secretary, played down any divergence in oil policy between the two countries.

“I’m seeing great agreement here in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia that the way to make the world a better place is to produce more energy, not less,” he said.