Posted on 07/22/2026 11:17:22 AM PDT by RandFan
SUMMARY
The US is due to sign a deal that will allow Saudi Arabia to develop a civilian nuclear programme - timeline of their talks
An announcement is expected from US President Donald Trump's administration, according to CBS News, the BBC's US partner
The deal will reportedly allow US companies to run nuclear power for the Saudis on Saudi soil
Nuclear experts and former officials in Israel - the US's top ally in the Middle East - have warned that such an agreement could lead to Saudi Arabia being able to develop a nuclear weapon
The fear is that if Saudi Arabia starts enriching its own uranium, hardliners in Iran could be encouraged to secretly race to build a bomb, writes our security correspondent
The deal, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, would last 30 years, the newspaper says
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
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Best idear ever!
It may be a good idea. The next time they want to destroy one of our buildings and kill a couple of thousand people, they won’t damage any planes. </sarc>
It depends on if you’re thinking critically, or blindly following someone.
It is a good idea. The Saudis aren’t interested in building a nuke, they realize it is a losing venture. They’re more interested in capitalist ventures like modernization of cities and expansion of business. (As long as their current government remains in power.)
Welcome to the Kushner-bin Laden Nuclear Laboratories.
Forget about those oceans of oil under our sands, this is NEW money!
.....Nuclear experts and former officials in Israel - the US’s top ally in the Middle East - have warned that such an agreement could lead to Saudi Arabia being able to develop a nuclear weapon.....
They’re right!
I can see the reasoning. I think its bad reasoning!
SA could go to NK or Pakistan for help, better to tie them to the US for that kind of help.
Also this is telling me MSB knows SA “ocean of oil” is more a lake now and becoming a pond. I give him credit for trying to make SA a normal country then a madhouse. I have a hard time seeing him succeed.
21st Century nuclear power is vastly different from the light-water atomic piles of the 1960’s.
Small modular reactors have a much advanced system of construction and installation, and may be produced on an assembly line, loaded on flatbed 18-wheeler semi-trailers or rail cars and transported to the site. The site is MUCH smaller than that taken up by a light-water nuclear reactor, and there is much reduced potential for radiation escapes or the so-called “China Syndrome”, as the module does NOT use huge quantities of water for cooling purposes. And because the design is modular, identical additional units may be set up in series to expand the total plant output, and best of all, there is minimal problem with the “spent” fuel, as upon the end of the useful lifetime of the module (about eight years) it is simply swapped out for a fully recharged unit, and the remaining residual radioactivity is processed at the manufacturing facility.
https://www.energy.gov/ne/advanced-small-modular-reactors-smrs
No. There’s no reason for SA to need nuclear power. Plus, we don’t want another Islamic nation to be armed with nukes.
Either the US does this, or China will. When China’s involved, the countries that set up civilian nuclear power often graduate to nuclear weapons, with likely some covert assistance from China. Examples are North Korea, Pakistan and Iran.
North Korea
Early Direct Cooperation:China and North Korea signed an initial nuclear cooperation agreement in 1959. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, China provided North Korea with scientific training, basic research reactors, and assisted in establishing its foundational nuclear infrastructure.
Indirect Help and Network Transfers:While China’s direct assistance to Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program has been a point of tension—with Beijing occasionally voting for UN sanctions—indirect aid has been substantial. North Korea utilized Chinese territory as a transit and re-export hub to acquire and sell dual-use nuclear and ballistic missile technology globally, heavily relying on procurement networks operating within China.
Furthermore, U.S. and international intelligence have repeatedly identified and sanctioned China-based firms and individuals for supplying restricted components, microelectronics, and materials that Pyongyang uses to sustain its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs.
Pakistan
Direct State-Level Assistance:China has been the primary historical patron of Pakistan’s nuclear program, providing both civilian and military nuclear technology. In the late 1970s and 1980s, Beijing provided Islamabad with critical assistance in the nuclear fuel cycle, including the provision of highly enriched uranium (HEU) and the blueprints for a tested nuclear bomb design. In the 1990s, Chinese entities were heavily involved in assisting Pakistan in building a heavy-water reactor and plutonium reprocessing facility at Khushab, which allowed Pakistan to pursue a plutonium-based weapons route alongside its uranium enrichment.
Civilian Nuclear Reactors:In the civilian sector, China has built—and continued to expand—civilian nuclear power reactors at the Chashma Nuclear Power Generating Station. These projects have sparked concerns among the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) because Pakistan has not placed all of its nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. [4, 5]
Indirect Aid:Beyond direct state transfers, Chinese firms have continually been sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Commerce for “contributions to Pakistan’s unsafeguarded nuclear activities”. These illicit or gray-market exports of dual-use goods, materials, and specialized equipment remain a persistent point of international friction. [1, 6, 7]
Iran
Direct Reactor and Fuel Cycle Help:China played a foundational role in Iran’s nuclear ambitions. From 1985 to 1997, Beijing was Tehran’s primary nuclear partner. China provided Iran with several small teaching and research reactors (which are vital for training specialists) and a heavy-water zero-power reactor. Additionally, Chinese engineers aided the Atomic Energy Agency of Iran in designing a uranium hexafluoride enrichment plant at Isfahan and a facility at Karaj, and provided uranium supplies and chemicals used for extracting plutonium.
Indirect Assistance and Technology Leaks:While direct state-to-state assistance in nuclear weapons has largely ceased due to international pressure, China provides massive indirect support through dual-use technology transfers. State Department and congressional reports consistently identify Chinese firms and individuals as Iran’s primary source for equipment, goods, and technology used to develop ballistic missiles and potential WMD delivery systems.
The A.Q. Khan Triangle:China also played a crucial, albeit indirect, role in Iran via Pakistan. The Pakistani nuclear network led by A.Q. Khan, which supplied Iran with critical P-1 and P-2 centrifuge designs and procurement routes, originally acquired much of this centrifuge technology and knowledge base from China before proliferating it to Tehran.
Would you like to explore how these technology sharing networks currently operate, or dive into the history of the A.Q. Khan proliferation network?
AI responses may include mistakes.
[1] https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF11737
[2] https://www.uscc.gov/research/china-iran-fact-sheet-short-primer-relationship
[3] https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/PDF/IF11737/IF11737.13.pdf
[4] https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/HTML/IF11737.html
[5] https://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/china-pakistan-nuclear-deal-realpolitique-fait-accompli-1/
[6] https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/PDF/IF11737/IF11737.16.pdf
[7] https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/aq-khan-redux-ongoing-risk-nuclear-proliferation-networks]
The Saudis are trustworthy. Come on man. /sssssss
MBS may be rational and westernized but there's no guarantee that will be the case with his successor.
giving the country that subsidized 9/11 nukes doesn’t seem very MAGA to me.
How much of a bribe did the Sauds pay for this?
Nuclear proliferation has been a bad idea since the Rosenbergs and the Soviet Union.
More great ideas like that trustworthy
Qatar Trojan Horse Spy plane .
that even the Bidens pass on.
[giving the country that subsidized 9/11 nukes doesn’t seem very MAGA to me.]
This isn’t about religion per se, although all of these people are Muslims. Going back to Muhammad, they whacked each other for personal power. His closest pals sidelined his progeny, killed each other for power the way all aristocracies have done since before anyone started keeping records.
Selling them a screwdriver can help lead them to building a nuke.
There is a HUGE jump from civilian power production to weapons grade uranium and we’re the ones likely selling them the uranium, meaning no gas centrifuges.
Nuclear power is the way to go:
It’s cheap.
Reliable and long lived.
Can produce massive amounts of power and has economy of scale, gets cheaper as you ramp up.
Has a high power density by weight and volume.
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