Saudi Arabia Agrees to Broader U.N. Atomic Agency Oversight
Move comes amid talks with Washington to set up uranium enrichment operation as part of possible normalization accord with Israel
BERLIN—Saudi Arabia said Monday it would agree to far greater oversight of its nuclear activities, a step that could help advance negotiations with the U.S. to set up a uranium enrichment operation in the kingdom as part of a possible Washington-backed normalization agreement between Riyadh and Israel.
Speaking at the United Nations atomic agency’s annual General Conference, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said Riyadh would rescind its basic oversight agreement with the Agency and implement a Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement, which gives inspectors much broader powers to inspect nuclear activities.
Abdulaziz said the kingdom was in the process of establishing a safeguards agreement that would follow “best international practices and experiences.”
The Saudi move would give the international community much greater reassurance that any nuclear facility Riyadh opens would be operating a purely peaceful program and wasn’t engaged in trying to produce nuclear fuel for a bomb.
Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Israeli officials are working with the Biden administration on a proposal to set up a U.S.-run uranium-enrichment operation in Saudi Arabia as part of a complex three-way deal to establish official diplomatic relations between the two Middle Eastern countries, according to U.S. and Israeli officials.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has been pressing Saudi Arabia to upgrade its oversight agreement for years as the kingdom has become increasingly open about seeking a civilian nuclear program.
In 2009, Saudi Arabia implemented the Small Quantities Protocol, a 1970s-era agreement that the agency uses with countries without active nuclear programs. Under the protocol, Saudi Arabia wasn’t obliged to permit inspections from the IAEA and was exempted from a number of reporting requirements on its nuclear activities.
The protocol is automatically voided when a country introduces nuclear material into a facility, a step the Saudis haven’t taken yet.
By upgrading to a comprehensive safeguards agreement, Saudi Arabia would be undertaking to accept IAEA safeguards on all nuclear material in a civilian program within its territory.
That means inspectors will be able to extensively monitor Saudi’s nuclear facilities.
It could also pave the way for Saudi Arabia to adopt a further oversight arrangement—the Additional Protocol—which allows the IAEA to inspect nonnuclear facilities to ensure that no nuclear material is being diverted for an illicit weapons program.
Those are the standards of oversight the U.S. and European countries demanded Iran accept as part of the 2015 nuclear accord.
“This suggests that Saudi Arabia is serious about developing a nuclear program, even though it doesn’t have an agreement with the U.S. to do so just yet,” said Gregory Brew, energy analyst at the Eurasia Group consulting firm in Washington. The decision will ensure “greater transparency” of its program to ensure it’s a civilian one, he added.
Saudi Arabia has been pushing for years to pursue its own civilian uranium enrichment although it doesn’t operate a nuclear reactor. Saudi leaders have also warned that if regional rival Iran develops a nuclear weapon, it would also seek to do so.
IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi welcomed the Saudi decision.
“I look forward to receiving Saudi Arabia’s formal communication about its decision,” he said. “The IAEA stands ready to provide support in this regard.”
The U.S. and Saudi Arabia have been negotiating the contours of a deal for Saudi Arabia to recognize Israel in exchange for helping the kingdom develop a civilian nuclear program with uranium enrichment on Saudi soil, among other concessions. Other aspects of the evolving deal are expected to include concessions for the Palestinians and U.S. security guarantees.
The Journal reported in 2020 that Saudi Arabia had constructed with Chinese help a facility for extracting uranium yellowcake from uranium ore. In August, the Journal also reported that Saudi Arabia was considering a Chinese bid to build a nuclear-power plant in the kingdom.