Saudi Arabia’s Nuclear Ambitions

Editor’s Note:

The United States and Saudi Arabia signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the area of peaceful civil nuclear energy cooperation in May 2008 during the visit of President George Bush to Saudi Arabia for meetings with King Abdullah. As described at the time by the White House:

“This agreement will pave the way for Saudi Arabia’s access to safe, reliable fuel sources for energy reactors and demonstrate Saudi leadership as a positive non-proliferation model for the region. The United States will assist the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to develop civilian nuclear power for use in medicine, industry, and power generation. The Government of the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will establish a comprehensive framework for cooperation in the development of environmentally sustainable, safe, and secure civilian nuclear energy through a series of complementary agreements.”

Carnegie Endowment Nuclear Policy Program Senior Associate Mark Hibbs, in today’s Q&A column, tackled seven key questions about the Saudi interest in a civilian nuclear energy program including consequences for regional security developments. We thank the Carnegie Endowment for providing insightful materials such as this that put important questions of the day in context.