I have blogged before about the Saudi Arabian quest for nuclear power. Major suppliers of nuclear technology are competing to supply Saudi Arabia with nuclear power reactors. However, there are concerns that Saudi Arabia might turn nuclear technology towards the development of nuclear weapons. This is a major impediment to the export of U.S. nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia.
A new report from U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee claims that the Trump administration tried to rush the transfer of U.S. nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia in potential violation of the laws governing the export of U.S. nuclear technology. An interim staff report from the Committee quoted multiple whistleblowers who reported ethical and legal problems with the process.
The report says “They have warned about political appointees ignoring directives from top ethics advisers at the White House who repeatedly and unsuccessfully ordered senior Trump administration officials to halt their efforts. They have also warned of conflicts of interest among top White House advisers that could implicate federal criminal statutes.”
The report claims that the major promoters of the transfer of U.S, nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia were retired General Michael Flynn who was national security advisor to President Trump and Thomas Barrack who was the chair Trump’s inaugural committee. Flynn was fired in February of 2017 when he was found to have lied to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian Ambassador.
Flynn served as an advisor to IP3 International for about seven months in 2016. IP3 is a private company that was involved in negotiations to build nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia. Flynn continued to promote IP3’s plans after he joined the Trump White House as National Security Advisor in early 2017.
Under the Atomic Energy Act, the U.S. Congress is required to approve the transfer of any nuclear technology to a foreign country. The report claims that Derik Harvey, a senior director at the National Security Council (NSC), insisted that the decision to sell nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia had already been made after ignoring warnings that such action would be illegal.
Lawyers for the NSC were aware that Flynn could have a conflict of interest with respect to the IP3 plans. They told the NSC staff to stop working on the IP3 planned transfer of U.S. nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia. However, even after Flynn was fired in February 2017, work on the plan appeared to continue with the support of Tom Barrack.
The House Oversight Committee has announced that it will carry out an investigation into nuclear technology transfer plans "to determine whether the actions being pursued by the Trump administration are in the national security interests of the United States, or, rather, serve those who stand to gain financially as a result of this potential change in U.S. foreign policy.” The House Intelligence Committee has said that it will coordinate with the Oversight Committee on investigation of this matter.
The White House has not yet responded to requests for their comments on these investigations and reports.