Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia plans to invite the U.S. to collaborate with it in the Kingdom’s civilian nuclear power programme, said the US Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Wednesday.
“Negotiations between the two allies will start soon to tackle the details of the pact - known as a 123 agreement,” Reuters reported, citing Perry as saying.
In previous talks, the Kingdom refused to sign any agreement that will let it not able to enrich uranium by itself.
“It is not for me to negotiate the deal but we have agreed to move forward ... We are going to get a negotiating team together going forward and try to hash out any details. But I feel comfortable that progress was made on that front,” Perry added.
Saudi Arabia needs nuclear power to diversify its energy sources that will enable it to export more crude.
In a previous time, Saudi Arabia invited the firms in the U.S. to participate in developing its civilian nuclear power programme, said Saudi Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Minister Khalid Al-Falih.
