Saudi Arabia Adds Nuclear Energy to National Power Mix

Vienna (GNP): Saudi Arabia is moving forward with plans to introduce nuclear energy into its national energy mix, Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on Monday, while outlining the Kingdom’s efforts to explore uranium resources and build economic value from them. Delivering Saudi Arabia’s statement at the 70th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, the minister presented the Kingdom’s broader energy security strategy.

Prince Abdulaziz said rising global energy demand, driven by economic, technological and industrial expansion, had made diversifying energy sources and strengthening their reliability essential to sustaining growth. He said Saudi Arabia was developing a more diverse and sustainable national energy mix, with nuclear energy forming part of that shift within a well-established regulatory framework and in line with the Kingdom’s international obligations.

That ambition extends to the Kingdom’s natural resources. The minister said Saudi Arabia was working to transform its uranium reserves from raw material into sustainable economic and industrial value, with the National Atomic Energy Project advancing this goal through several interconnected tracks.

The first involves recovering uranium associated with phosphoric acid produced at phosphate fertiliser operations in northern Saudi Arabia, where pilot work with French company Orano has produced encouraging economic indicators, followed by a memorandum of understanding signed during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to France in August.

A second track centres on the Jabal Sayid project in the Madinah region, where exploration and geological studies have identified estimated resources of around 114 million tonnes of ore containing high concentrations of rare earth elements alongside promising uranium concentrations.

Saudi Arabia is also continuing work through its Sedimentary Cover Survey Initiative to identify additional uranium ores from conventional sources, part of a wider ambition to build a fully integrated economic and industrial value chain spanning exploration, mining, processing, refining and the production of yellowcake, subject to economic feasibility.

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International cooperation forms a central pillar of this strategy. Prince Abdulaziz said the Kingdom’s partnership with the United States now covers critical minerals, supply-chain security and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, following an agreement signed in July on cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, known as the 123 Agreement. He said Saudi Arabia was exercising its right to peaceful nuclear energy with transparency and international cooperation, and was not pursuing its programme in isolation from the international community.

Looking ahead, the minister said Saudi Arabia would continue strengthening its national regulatory framework governing nuclear energy, enhancing preparedness for nuclear and radiological emergencies and reinforcing a culture of nuclear safety and security. He said the Kingdom would deepen technical cooperation with the IAEA and international partners as the programme develops.

Taken together, the Kingdom’s move adds nuclear energy to Saudi Arabia’s broader energy security strategy, supporting a more diversified and sustainable energy system while converting its extensive mineral resource base into higher-value industrial activity over the coming years.