Saudi Arabia is considering a Chinese proposal to build a nuclear power plant – Kommersant

Saudi Arabia is considering the possibility of involving the Chinese company China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) in the construction of a nuclear power plant. Writes about it The Wall Street Journal citing Saudi officials who wished to remain anonymous. According to them, CNNC has applied to participate in the construction. The ministries of foreign affairs of Saudi Arabia and China, as well as representatives of CNNC, did not comment on this information.

Saudi Arabia has announced plans to build a nuclear power plant in Eastern Province, close to the border with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Prior to this, Saudi Arabia cooperated in the development of its nuclear power mainly with the United States. It was reported that assistance in the development of this sector was one of the requirements from Saudi Arabia when discussing the normalization of relations between this country and Israel. However, according to media reports, the United States is demanding that the agreement include a ban on uranium enrichment, plutonium processing and other methods that are used to create nuclear weapons, and the Saudi authorities do not want to go for it.

According to WSJ sources, negotiations with the Chinese company are primarily a way for Saudi Arabia to encourage the US to soften the terms of the agreement. At the same time, according to the newspaper, the country’s authorities are ready to cooperate with a Chinese company if negotiations with the United States lead nowhere.

Yana Rozhdestvenskaya