Saudi Arabia is accepting bids for the construction of multiple nuclear power reactors. Westinghouse, a U.S. company, is very interested in building those reactors but there are problems because some of the technologies involved have dual use. This means that they can be used for commercial nuclear power reactors and also can be used in the development of nuclear weapons. The U.S. has rules about who they can sell such technologies to and Saudi Arabia does not satisfy the criterion for such sales. U.S. official are working hard to figure out a way to get around these restrictions.
Saudi Arabia has said that if Iran were to obtain nuclear weapons, then Saudi Arabia would need to develop nuclear weapons as well as a counter. There are reports that Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have an understanding that if Iran obtains nuclear weapons, Pakistan would ship nuclear weapons to Saudi Arabia immediately.
Israel is also very worried about Iran having nuclear weapons and has warned the world that it may take unilateral military action to attack Iranian nuclear facilities. While Israel and Saudi Arabia both see Iran as an enemy and Saudi Arabia has recently been working with Israel against Iranian interests, Israel is still very concerned that Saudi Arabia might develop their own nuclear arsenal.
Israel understands that it will not be able to convince the U.S. to forego billions of dollars’ worth of Saudi Arabia nuclear construction. It has presented the U.S. with a list of their concerns about the Saudi Arabia nuclear projects as well as a set of “red-lines” that could trigger Israeli military actions against Saudi Arabia.
Israel has asked that U.S. negotiations over nuclear power plants with Saudi Arabia be as transparent as possible to prevent surprises that might upset Israel. Israel also wants a list of all the nuclear technology that the U.S. is considering selling to Saudi Arabia. They want to be included in the planning of where the Saudi nuclear power plants should be located. Israel demands that any U.S. deal with Saudi Arabia does not include the right to enrich uranium inside Saudi Arabia. Israel also demands that the U.S. be the only country to sell nuclear fuel to Saudi Arabia if U.S. companies get the contract for the Saudi nuclear reactors. And, finally, Israel demands that the U.S. remove all spent nuclear fuel from Saudi Arabia as quickly as possible in order to prevent Saudi Arabia from reprocessing the fuel to obtain plutonium for nuclear weapons.
The U.S. Energy Secretary met with the Israeli energy minister a couple of weeks ago to discuss Israel concerns and demands. The U.S. Energy Secretary told the Israeli energy minister that the concerns of Israel would be carefully considered as the U.S. moves forward in negotiations with Saudi Arabia. The U.S. Energy Secretary will be traveling to Israel in October and will discuss the Israeli concerns then.
Israel’s concerns about a Saudi nuclear program are certainly justified. And they have sufficient influence with the U.S. that their concerns and redlines will be taken seriously. Unfortunately, there are other suppliers of nuclear technology that are negotiating to build Saudi reactors and if the U.S. bids are too expensive or restrictive, Saudi Arabia may well purchase its reactors from other countries that will not attach such restrictions as the Israelis demand.