MOSCOW — Governments of Russian Federation and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of nuclear energy for peaceful uses, a press release from the Russian state corporation said Monday. For the first time in the history of Russian-Saudi relations, the document creates a legal basis for cooperation between two countries in the field of nuclear energy on a wide range of areas, including construction of nuclear power reactors, provision of cycle of nuclear fuel, including for nuclear power plants and research reactors. Agreement includes the issues of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste, production of radioisotopes and their applications in industry, medicine and agriculture.
The agreement was signed during St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). The document was signed on behalf of two governments by general director of the state corporation ROSATOM Sergey Kiriyenko and president of the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KA-CARE) Hashim Abdullah Yamani.
Within the agreement there will be established the Coordination Committee and the joint working groups to carry out specific projects and research. It is planned to exchange of experts, scientific and technological information, organization of seminars, symposiums, cooperation in the preparation of scientific and technical personnel. All this became possible for the first time in the history of Russian-Saudi relations.
In June 2014, Russia and Saudi Arabia have agreed a draft of agreement on cooperation in the nuclear field. Saudi Arabia is interested in cooperation with Russia in the construction of nuclear power plants. "They really began to show their interest. And this is also interesting to us", said S. Kiriyenko in the beginning of the year.
Saudi Arabia plans to introduce 17 GW of nuclear capacity by 2032.
The State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM incorporates more than 400 companies and research organizations, including all civil nuclear companies of Russia's nuclear weapons complex, research organizations and the unique in the world nuclear icebreaker fleet. The international order portfolio of ROSATOM at the end of 2014 was $101.4 billion.
Saudi Arabia plans to construct 16 nuclear power reactors over the next 20 years at a cost of more than $80 billion, with the first reactor on line in 2022.
It projects 17 GWe of nuclear capacity by 2040 to provide 15% of the power then, along with over 40 GWe of solar capacity.
In December 2006, the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and Oman – announced that the Council was commissioning a study on the peaceful use of nuclear energy. France agreed to work with them on this.
Together they produce 520 billion kWh per year (2012), all from oil and gas and with 5-7% annual demand growth. They have total installed capacity of over 90 GWe, with a common grid apart from Saudi Arabia. There is also a large demand for desalination, currently fuelled by oil and gas.
In February 2007 the six states agreed with the IAEA to cooperate on a feasibility study for a regional nuclear power and desalination program. — SG
