Saudi crown prince’s nuclear bomb comment may blow up reactor deal with US

Opposition to a deal for the US to provide nuclear power technology to Saudi Arabia is growing after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the kingdom would develop a nuclear weapon if Iran did.

The potential for US companies to participate in the construction of as many as 16 nuclear reactors sought by the kingdom has been seen as a potential lifeline to Westinghouse Electric Co and others suffering from the flagging nuclear industry at home.

To further that effort, the Trump administration is said to be considering allowing the Saudis the right to enrich uranium, a break from the so-called “gold standard” included in the nuclear-sharing agreement with the United Arab Emirates, which allows power generation but prohibits the enrichment and reprocessing of uranium.

But that idea ran into a buzz saw during a House hearing on Wednesday, with Republican and Democrat lawmakers alike saying prince’s admission that his country might seek to build nuclear weapons was cause to halt negotiations between the two nations. Energy Secretary Rick Perry met with Saudi officials earlier this month in London to begin talks on the deal.

“The idea of Saudi Arabia having a nuclear programme with the ability to enrich is a major national security concern,” said Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa. “Unfortunately from the little we do know from the administration it is looking at this deal in terms of economics and in terms of commerce and national security implications only register as a minor issue – if at all.”