Secret US talk about enrichment in the 123 agreement with Saudi Arabia

[The SC]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Trump officials briefed Senate members this week on how the White House is studying non-proliferation standards in a possible deal to sell nuclear reactor technology to Saudi Arabia, but they did not say whether allowing uranium enrichment would be part of any agreement.

Non-proliferation advocates fear that allowing Saudi Arabia to enrich fuel in a nuclear power deal could one day secretly produce fissile material and launch a gun race with its arch-rival Iran, may spread more widely across the Middle East.

The aide said officials from the State Department and Energy Department briefed members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at a closed-door meeting on Wednesday. A member of the committee said its members knew the administration was "working to develop a position on non-proliferation standards" if it decided to start talks with Saudi Arabia on a peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement known as the 123 agreement.

He said the administration was still considering whether any agreement would allow uranium enrichment.

A State Department official said the United States and Saudi Arabia had been in talks since 2012 regarding the 123 agreement, but declined to comment on the discussions. Foreign Ministry officials have yet to comment on energy.

US Energy Secretary Rick Perry visited Saudi Arabia last week and said at the time that talks between the two allies on the 123 deal would begin soon. The deal will allow US companies to participate in Saudi Arabia's civilian nuclear program.

Riyadh says it wants self-sufficiency in nuclear fuel production and is not interested in turning nuclear technology into military use. In previous talks, Saudi Arabia has refused to sign an agreement with Washington that would deny it uranium enrichment.

Uranium fuel for reactors is being enriched to only about 5 percent, a level lower than the 90 percent needed for the use of fissile material in nuclear bombs.

A day before administration officials met with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a Bloomberg report quoted sources as saying the administration might allow uranium enrichment as part of an agreement.

The Trump administration and the Obama administration are pressing ahead with the sale of nuclear energy technology abroad, partly because of maintaining America's ability to compete with Russia and China for nuclear innovation.

Toshiba's Westinghouse is in talks with other US-based companies to form a consortium to make a multi-billion-dollar bid to build nuclear reactors in Saudi Arabia.

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