Saudi Arabia is developing its civilian nuclear program and prefers to have the US as one of the bidders for that program, Riyadh’s top diplomat said Thursday.
“There are others that are bidding, and obviously, we would like to build our program with the best technology in the world, and that will require a certain agreement to be in place,” Prince Faisal bin Farhan said during a joint press conference with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“We have differences of opinion [with the US], and so we’re working on finding a mechanism for us to be able to work together on civilian nuclear technology. But, you know, we intend to move forward on that program,” Prince Faisal said.
Saudi Arabia has requested US technology to enrich the uranium Riyadh possesses to produce and then sell fuel. Otherwise, Saudi officials have said they could look to China, Russia or France for help, which are the countries Prince Faisal may have been alluding to.
A State Department spokesperson previously said the Biden administration was committed to supporting Saudi Arabia’s clean energy transition, including its efforts to develop a peaceful nuclear energy program, but stopped short of signaling US approval for Saudi’s uranium enrichment plans.
“The United States has long sought to limit the spread of uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing technologies globally, given their potential technical applicability to fissile material production. President Biden has been clear that the administration remains committed to this longstanding US nonproliferation objective,” the official told Al Arabiya English at the time.