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U.S. senators seek details on nuclear power cooperation with Saudi Arabia

By Timothy Gardner

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry attends a news conference after meeting with Iraqi President Barham Salih in Baghdad, Iraq December 11, 2018. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. senators from both parties on Tuesday asked Energy Secretary Rick Perry for details about recent approvals for companies to share nuclear energy information with Saudi Arabia, with the lawmakers expressing concern about possible development of atomic weapons.

 

Saudi Arabia has engaged in "many deeply troubling actions and statements that have provoked alarm in Congress," Senators Bob Menendez, a Democrat, and Marco Rubio, a Republican, told Perry in a letter, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.

 

The senators said Congress was beginning to reevaluate the U.S.-Saudi relationship, and they believe Washington should not be providing nuclear technology or information to Saudi Arabia now.

 

The Trump administration has been quietly negotiating a deal that would potentially help Saudi Arabia build two reactors.

 

Last week news reports revealed that since November 2017, Perry has authorized so-called Part 810 approvals allowing U.S. companies to share sensitive nuclear information with the kingdom. The approvals were kept from the public and from Congress.

 

The senators asked Perry to provide them by April 10 with the names of the companies that got the 810 approvals, what was in the authorisations, and why the companies asked that the approvals be kept secret. U.S. Representative Brad Sherman, a Democrat, also asked the Energy Department in a separate letter what was in the approvals.

 

While 810 agreements are routine, the Obama administration made them available for the public to read at Energy Department headquarters. Lawmakers say the department is legally required to inform Congress about the approvals.

 

Perry approved the seven recent authorisations as the administration has tried to hash out nonproliferation standards with Saudi Arabia. Such a pact, known as a 123 agreement, would have to be agreed before U.S. companies can share physical exports of materials and equipment to build reactors.

 

The kingdom has resisted standards on reprocessing spent fuel and enriching uranium, two potential paths to making nuclear weapons.

 

The United States has been competing with South Korea, France, Russia and China on a potential deal to help build reactors in Saudi Arabia. The kingdom is expected to announce the winner this year.

 

Lawmakers from both parties have been concerned about Saudi Arabia's bombing campaigns in Yemen, which is on the brink of famine, and the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. resident, last October in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

 

Concern in Congress grew last year after the kingdom's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told CBS that "Saudi Arabia does not want to acquire any nuclear bomb, but without a doubt if Iran developed a nuclear bomb, we will follow suit as soon as possible."

 

Perry has said the 810 approvals were kept from the public for corporate proprietary reasons.

 

He has also said that if Saudi Arabia relies on China or Russia for building nuclear reactors those two countries don't give a "tinker's damn" about non-proliferation.

 

Many non-proliferation experts dispute the notion that a deal with China or Russia would be riskier. These people say the United States has many other levers it can pull to influence nuclear behaviour.

 

At another Senate hearing, the five members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, including Chairman Kristine Svinicki, would not say whether the NRC raised any concerns over the 810 approvals in a required consultation with the Energy Department. Svinicki said the NRC's consulting role on the approvals is narrow and delegated to staff.

 

Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat who asked the question of the NRC at the hearing, told Reuters in an interview that the commissioners' lack of knowledge about the approvals was "stunning."

 

"It's kind of scary because we do rely on them to provide input into this process and not a single commissioner knew anything about what input they may or may not have provided."

 

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by David Gregorio and James Dalgleish)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-04-03

[LomSak27]

This might be the epic cluster <deleted> Trump is remembered for. He is sharing nuclear information with the country that recently murdered and dismembered a journo in their embassy. This is the country that sixteen of the twenty 9/11 hijackers came from, but Trump wants to give them Nuke tech. Is there anything this ignorant spud won’t do?

 

What the heck is this mentally challenged spud doing? He is also is stone walling congress and senate who have been trying to get information about this nuclear power deal. He has been doing this all along but now it is getting serious even the Republicans are asking about it. Gee they have accepted his lies and deceit for two years, but they somehow feel uncomfortable with this one. They always claim they want to protect America, but giving things to psychotic jihadi types bothers them. Who says they have no conscience?!

 

No Kidding, what will this clown and his Republican enablers do to top this ? This could be the ultimate potato for spud man.

 

[bristolboy]

54 minutes ago, LomSak27 said:

This might be the epic cluster <deleted> Trump is remembered for. He is sharing nuclear information with the country that recently murdered and dismembered a journo in their embassy. This is the country that sixteen of the twenty 9/11 hijackers came from, but Trump wants to give them Nuke tech. Is there anything this ignorant spud won’t do?

 

What the heck is this mentally challenged spud doing? He is also is stone walling congress and senate who have been trying to get information about this nuclear power deal. He has been doing this all along but now it is getting serious even the Republicans are asking about it. Gee they have accepted his lies and deceit for two years, but they somehow feel uncomfortable with this one. They always claim they want to protect America, but giving things to psychotic jihadi types bothers them. Who says they have no conscience?!

 

No Kidding, what will this clown and his Republican enablers do to top this ? This could be the ultimate potato for spud man.

 

I think more to the point is that SA's defacto leader kidnapped a foreign leader, nearly went to war with Qatar, and has created a bloody humanitarian nightmare in Yemen. He is clearly a psychopath in the mold of Saddam Hussein. Remember when the US was a supporter of him? And in that case, just as now, one of the major reasons, if not the major reason, was opposition to Iran.

[LomSak27]

I can't argue with that.

 

[quandow]

21 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

I think more to the point is that SA's defacto leader kidnapped a foreign leader, nearly went to war with Qatar, and has created a bloody humanitarian nightmare in Yemen. He is clearly a psychopath in the mold of Saddam Hussein. Remember when the US was a supporter of him? And in that case, just as now, one of the major reasons, if not the major reason, was opposition to Iran.

Well, yeah, but - oil!

[Tug]

Hey lomsak27 what did potatoes do to you stop insulting our spuds lol every day it’s something else with Donald but what really blows my mind is that some people support him 

[RJRS1301]

3 hours ago, bristolboy said:

I think more to the point is that SA's defacto leader kidnapped a foreign leader, nearly went to war with Qatar, and has created a bloody humanitarian nightmare in Yemen. He is clearly a psychopath in the mold of Saddam Hussein. Remember when the US was a supporter of him? And in that case, just as now, one of the major reasons, if not the major reason, was opposition to Iran.

And who was responsible for Iran >> I wonder??

If the US kept its nose out of the affairs of other countries, stopped relying on arms for the economy oops no arms no economy>>'

Too late 

[candide]

4 hours ago, bristolboy said:

I think more to the point is that SA's defacto leader kidnapped a foreign leader, nearly went to war with Qatar, and has created a bloody humanitarian nightmare in Yemen. He is clearly a psychopath in the mold of Saddam Hussein. Remember when the US was a supporter of him? And in that case, just as now, one of the major reasons, if not the major reason, was opposition to Iran.

In that case, I would rather tend to think that one if the major reason for Trump's opposition to Iran is that SA is opposed to Iran.

[IAMHERE]

Ok, so the USA shouldn't be helping Saudi Arabia.  Anyone think they are not going to get help from someone? It was only a couple months ago that SA went nuclear shopping in Pakistan, you think they won't get help from the Paki's ? I'd think even China will help SA, Russia isn't out of the picture. Saudi's will get assistance one way or the other.

By the way, none of that oil comes to America.

[mtls2005]

For the side which went on endlessly about Uranium One, this one appears to be a lot worse?

 

 

On 4/3/2019 at 5:39 AM, webfact said:

The approvals were kept from the public and from Congress.

 

Never a good look for something which is supposedly "legal".

 

"Drain the swamp", next year.

 

 

[bristolboy]

13 hours ago, IAMHERE said:

Ok, so the USA shouldn't be helping Saudi Arabia.  Anyone think they are not going to get help from someone? It was only a couple months ago that SA went nuclear shopping in Pakistan, you think they won't get help from the Paki's ? I'd think even China will help SA, Russia isn't out of the picture. Saudi's will get assistance one way or the other.

By the way, none of that oil comes to America.

If MBS weren't the defacto ruler of Saudi Arabia you'd have a better case. But it's really not a great idea for the US to get entangled with a reckless psychopath.