RIYADH – Saudi Arabia is close to completing the construction of its firstnuclear reactor in the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technologyin Riyadh, Robert Kelley, a former International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) director told Bloomberg after analysing satellite images from GoogleEarth. Kelley said that judging by the photos it’s a 30-kilowatt researchreactor, which will be ready to function within a year.
The reactor itself was designed by the Argentinian company Invap SE,but the engineering was completed by Saudi specialists. Argentinian envoyto the IAEA, Rafael Mariano Grossi, has confirmed to The Guardian thatInvap was in charge of designing the reactor and that it will beoperational “by the end of the year roughly”.
Saudi Arabia has been looking to build nuclear power plants across thecountry in a bid to diversify power supply sources as a part of its “Vision2030” programme. Riyadh indicated that a significant portion of energyresources drilled in the country is being consumed by its growing powerneeds.
Saudi Arabia has so far only adopted the Small Quantities Protocol,regulating control over the countries that operate nominal amountsof fissile material, but doesn’t include the rules and procedures allowinginternational bodies to conduct extensive inspections.
The news about the reactor’s near completion also come amid an ongoing USCongressional investigation into the US DoE (Department of Energy) grantingseven permits for American companies to transfer sensitive nucleartechnologies to Riyadh, allegedly under pressure from the White House,which is seeking to cooperate with Saudi Arabia in the area of nuclearenergy.
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The transfer of such technologies is supposed to be preceded by theadoption of Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act of 1954, also calledthe “golden standard”, by the recipient country. The “standard” is designedto ensure the non-proliferation of nuclear technologies and the peacefulnature of a nuclear programme and IAEA inspections in the country.
At the same time, Riyadh has refused to adopt the “golden standard”, whichbecame a stumbling block in its negotiations with the Barack Obamaadministration. – Sputnik
