The Department of Energy confirmed on Wednesday, following reports in several media outlets, that the administration of President Donald Trump had formalized an agreement with the government of Saudi Arabia to help that country develop a nuclear energy program.
The Department described the plan as a “decades-long, multi-billion-dollar partnership” in which American corporations would share their knowledge on how to run safe, clean nuclear power plants with Saudi Arabia, fulfilling a longtime ambition of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who included nuclear energy in his “Vision 2030” plan for diversifying the Saudi economy and modernizing the country.
The state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) also confirmed the deal, titled the “Agreement for Cooperation on the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy,” and celebrated that it would result in transferring significant expertise in nuclear development.
The agreement will move to Congress for review and approval, the Department of Energy announced.
Currently, only the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Iran in the Gulf region possess active nuclear power plants. Iran’s nuclear program, featuring prodigious amounts of uranium enrichment that have alarmed international atomic energy observers, has long concerned the Saudi government. Saudi officials for years have stated that they would pursue the development of a nuclear weapon if the Iranian terror regime obtains one.
Both Washington and Riyadh asserted that the agreement signed on Wednesday was strictly for civilian nuclear energy use. According to the Department of Energy, the deal will offer “great access for American companies in the Saudi nuclear energy program, benefiting American industry, workers, and supply chains while helping to meet Saudi energy needs.”
“These agreements reflect our two nations’ shared commitment to strengthening U.S.-Saudi commercial relations, delivering prosperity at home and security to our allies abroad,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement. “Rest assured, these agreements uphold the highest standards of nuclear safety and nonproliferation, while relying on the world’s best nuclear technology and scientists, designed right here in the United States.”
Secretary Wright celebrated an upcoming “American nuclear renaissance” empowered by agreements such as the Saudi deal.
The SPA similarly celebrated the nuclear plan, listing various objectives the two countries will pursue together.
“The agreement… aims to… facilitate the exchange of expertise, knowledge, and technologies,” the SPA listed, “contributing to strengthening bilateral cooperation in accordance with the highest international standards of nuclear safety, nuclear security, and non-proliferation.”
“The agreement also builds on the longstanding energy cooperation between the two countries, supporting efforts to diversify energy sources, advance cutting-edge technologies, and expand opportunities for cooperation and investment in ways that serve the mutual interests of the two friendly countries,” it added.
The SPA noted that the agreement adds details to a commitment that the crown prince made in November with President Trump while visiting the White House. At the time, the White House revealed that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had signed a Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement with the United States as part of a package of deals that included further cooperation on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and critical minerals for technology, among other topics. The language on the initial nuclear energy agreement in November echoed how the Energy Department described its latest agreement on Wednesday: a “decades-long, multi-billion-dollar nuclear energy partnership with the Kingdom.”
The Saudi government has repeatedly expressed interest in expanding nuclear energy, moving away from fossil fuels and allowing the potential expansion of development and infrastructure in the country. In 2024, Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman stated plainly the country’s intent to pursue nuclear energy.
“Given the importance of nuclear energy in social and economic development, the Kingdom is moving towards benefiting from nuclear energy and its radiation applications for peaceful purposes,” Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said, “and it continues to implement its national nuclear energy project with all its components, including the construction of the first nuclear power plant in the Kingdom.”
Early reports on Wednesday that the agreement had been cemented prompted some alarm among international observers that Saudi Arabia’s nuclear development could inflame already outsized tensions in the Middle East. In Israel, a state believed to possess nuclear energy, multiple political leaders complained that a Saudi nuclear program would potentially endanger the country. President Trump appeared to address these concerns on Thursday morning, declaring that the Saudi nuclear agreement would only take hold in the event that the Saudi government normalized its relations with Israel.
“The Civil Nuclear Deal (There will be no enrichment of material!) being made between the United States Department of Energy and Saudi Arabia … will be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords,” President Trump wrote on his website, Truth Social. “The United States is not opposed to Civil (Non-Enriched) Nuclear Facilities.”
The Abraham Accords are a series of interregional agreements between Israel and its Muslim-majority neighbors facilitated by the Trump administration that have allowed for the Israeli government to establish diplomatic relations with the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, and Kazakhstan. President Trump has repeatedly expressed a wish to see as many Islamic countries join the Abraham Accords as possible, prioritizing Saudi Arabia as home to the holiest sites in the faith. The Saudi government has traditionally resisted normalizing relations with Israel without the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state. At press time, Saudi officials have not responded to Trump’s demand to join the Abraham Accords.
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