by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) — U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday in Riyadh that the U.S. is close to a landmark energy deal with Saudi Arabia to develop its civil nuclear industry, with a preliminary agreement expected soon.
Wright confirmed that the U.S. plans to sign a broad energy cooperation agreement within weeks, with a nuclear deal expected in the coming months.
“I think in the short run, we’ll sign a broader agreement about cooperation across the energy space, in partnerships, in investments, in investigations. Nuclear is certainly one of those areas,” Wright told Al-Arabiya News.
“To get a specific agreement to partner on commercial nuclear development in Saudi Arabia, that’ll take a little bit longer, that’ll be months, not weeks, but you’re gonna get there. I think it’s likely,” he added.
Wright noted that Saudi Arabia has yet to accept the non-proliferation conditions required under the U.S. Atomic Energy Act, which includes nine safeguards to prevent nuclear weapons development or material transfer.
“For a U.S. partnership and involvement in nuclear here, there will definitely be a 123 agreement … there’s lots of ways to structure a deal that will accomplish both the Saudi objectives and the American objectives,” he said.
A 123 agreement with Riyadh refers to Section 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act of 1954, which is required for the U.S. government and American companies to collaborate with Saudi entities on developing a civil nuclear industry.
In the past, talks had stalled over Riyadh’s refusal to rule out uranium enrichment or fuel reprocessing—key steps toward a bomb.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said that if Iran acquires a nuclear weapon, Saudi Arabia would pursue one as well, raising concerns among arms control advocates and some U.S. lawmakers about a potential civil nuclear deal.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Hope of finding additional survivors was fading early Wednesday after a pontoon boat sank near Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, killing one person and one dog and leaving three others missing, authorities said.
The Israel Defense Forces announced Wednesday that it killed a Hamas terrorist who helped abduct the bodies of an Israeli brigade commander and two soldiers during the October 7, 2023, massacre.
Israel’s High Court of Justice on Wednesday temporarily froze a newly enacted law shielding tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox men from arrest and prosecution for avoiding military service.
Christian leaders and ministries are expressing cautious hope that the removal of Hamas from power in the Gaza Strip could eventually open a long-closed door for the Gospel, even as European and Palestinian officials begin laying plans for the territory’s physical reconstruction.
Ukraine said its air defenses intercepted five Russian ballistic missiles during a sweeping overnight assault that nevertheless struck multiple locations in Kyiv, damaging warehouses and a school.
Cuba’s national electrical grid collapsed Tuesday, plunging roughly 10 million people into darkness in the communist island’s third major blackout in nine days.
U.S. Central Command launched a new wave of strikes against Iran on Wednesday, expanding its military campaign against forces accused of threatening commercial vessels and civilian crews in the Strait of Hormuz.