Though Riyadh has repeatedly assured the facility’s purpose is ‘strictly peaceful,’ both Israel and the United States feel the facility’s real purpose is to counter the 2015 Iran nuclear deal then president Obama choreographed into acceptance with the P5+1 and the European Union.
By i24NEWS
Satellite imagery revealed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is nearly finished constructing its first nuclear reactor, much to the alarm of arms control experts, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
The report notes that the images, captured by Google Earth from April 2017 to now, are the first public documentation of the facility’s progression.
Saudi Arabia is nearing completion of its first nuclear reactor in the southwest corner of the King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology. – Image: GoogleEarth.
The images show an empty patch of land transformed into a columnar structure, meant to hold atomic fuel. However, those who sell atomic fuel have reportedly been reluctant thus far to supply the new facility, at least until official surveillance rules are agreed upon by the Kingdom and the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.
Arms control experts have expressed alarm over the Kingdom’s abstention from established guidelines followed by the world’s nuclear powers.
“There’s a very high probability these images show the country’s first nuclear facility,” former IAEA director Robert Kelley told the US-based outlet. “It means that Saudi Arabia has to get its safeguards in order.”
Nonetheless, its energy minister said the facility, said to be located in the southwest corner of Riyadh’s King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, is intended for “strictly peaceful” functions including “scientific, research, educational, and training activities in full compliance with international agreements.”
In July, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dispatched his energy minister Yuval Steinitz to the United States in order to present the Jewish state’s red lines when it comes to Saudi Arabia’s development of nuclear technology, Israel’s Channel 10 reported at the time.
Israel was said to insist on knowing the exact locations of Saudi nuclear reactors in addition to receiving assurance that Riyadh will not get the “capability or the legitimacy” to enrich uranium on its soil.
Reuters reported in March that US Energy Secretary Rick Perry approved six secret authorizations allowing US companies to sell nuclear tech and development assistance to, noting that Trump’s administration is slowly and quietly pursuing closer nuclear ties with Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia is hoping to build up to 17 nuclear power plants as it seeks to diversify its energy supply mix in order to free up oil to boost exports.
Israel reportedly demanded that the US be the only country supplying nuclear fuel to the Gulf monarchy, as well as be responsible for removing it from Saudi soil once it is used.
Recently, Saudi Arabia has been on a mission to modernize the country, curtail its economic reliance on oil and become largely “self-sufficient” in their production of nuclear fuel.
An instrumental part of the equation is the use of uranium. While Israel is against it, and the Americans seem ambivalent, the Saudis maintain that they have the right to develop uranium, which, if converted into nuclear power, could spur an economic boom.
Saudi Arabia is a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, whereas Israel has never signed it and has refused to declare its reported nuclear weapons capability, preferring a policy of ambiguity.
Despite Israel’s opposition to the Saudi nuclear reactors, both countries share the same concern over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, which they believe aim at acquiring nuclear weapons.
Dr. Anwar Eshki, retired general in the Saudi military, and Israel’s then-Director General of Israeli Foreign Ministry, Dr. Dore Gold, at the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations think tank.
Israel and Saudi Arabia thus welcomed President Trump’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal, since they believe the deal was flawed and that Iran should not be trusted.
View original i24NEWS publication at:
https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/middle-east/1554363738-satellite-imagery-reveals-saudi-nuclear-reactor-nears-completion
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