U.S. Signs Multi-Billion-Dollar Nuclear Cooperation Deal With Saudi Arabia; Westinghouse AP1000 Anchors Pact
- Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman signed a decades-long, multi-billion-dollar civilian nuclear cooperation agreement on July 22, giving U.S. firms — led by Westinghouse (AP1000), Bechtel, BWXT and Centrus — access to Saudi Arabia's nuclear program (Source: DOE, CNBC).
- The deal marks a policy shift: it cracks open a path for Saudi Arabia to enrich its own reactor fuel, breaking from prior U.S. agreements that barred enrichment; the accord now heads to Congress for review under the Atomic Energy Act.
- Westinghouse CEO Dan Sumner called it a 'landmark step'; analysts say without the pact, U.S. nuclear companies would have been locked out as Saudi Arabia went to France, Russia or China.