Saudi nuclear deal set to bypass IAEA's toughest inspections regime
A 30-year nuclear cooperation agreement between the United States and Saudi Arabia is expected to involve American firms and could allow a uranium enrichment facility on Saudi soil, following a joint US-Saudi study.
The deal must be submitted to Congress for review, where lawmakers fear it could trigger new rounds of proliferation and competition in the region.
Crucially, the agreement is not expected to include the International Atomic Energy Agency's Additional Protocol, which would allow enhanced monitoring and inspections of Saudi nuclear activities.
"Unprecedented" nuclear deal adopted by Iran's Parliament
Kelsey Davenport, director for non-proliferation policy at the Arms Control Association, warned that with nuclear cooperation "the devil is in the details". She said the documents suggest Washington has not carefully weighed the proliferation risks involved.
Senator Edward Markey has called on Congress to reject the agreement, accusing the administration of caving to Riyadh.
US and French nuclear rivalry
The United States remains the world's largest nuclear power producer, with 94 reactors generating some 782 terawatt-hours in 2024, roughly 30 percent of global nuclear output. Yet nuclear supplies only around 18 to 20 percent of America's own electricity.
France runs a smaller fleet of 57 reactors, which supplied 67.3 percent of the country's electricity in 2024, the highest share of any country in the world. French nuclear output reached 373 TWh in 2025, recovering from the corrosion crisis of 2022.
The starkest difference lies in exports. America consumes almost all its nuclear electricity domestically, while France sells its surplus abroad.
France recorded net electricity exports of 92 TWh in 2025, a second consecutive record after 89 TWh in 2024, supplying every neighbouring country except Spain. By one measure, France exported 17 percent of everything it generated, almost as much as all other European exporters combined.
French ambitions in Saudi Arabia date back to a 2011 agreement offering the kingdom atomic know-how and training, followed by a joint EDF-Areva office in Riyadh.
According to a US Congressional Research Service brief, France's EDF is one of four approved bidders, alongside China's CNNC, South Korea's KEPCO and Russia's Rosatom, for the construction of two 1.4-gigawatt reactors at Khor Duweihin on the Gulf coast.