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New satellite images show that Saudi Arabia completed its first nuclear reactor in the following months, but has not yet shown its willingness to follow protective measures that would prevent it from making a bomb.
The reactor site is in King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, on the outskirts of Riyadh. The site was identified by Robert Kelley, former director of nuclear inspections at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who said that it was an accident. very small research reactor of 30 kilowatts, not far to be completed.
"I guess they could do it all, with the roof up and the electricity on, a year from now," said Kelley, who has worked for more than three decades in research and development. engineering in the American nuclear complex.
The satellite photos show that a 10-meter high steel tubular vessel, which will contain nuclear fuel, has been constructed and that construction work is underway on the surrounding concrete building.
Kelley said that the main purpose of the research reactor was to train nuclear technicians, but that it also marked the crossing of a nuclear threshold. Before introducing nuclear fuel into the reactor, Saudi Arabia should implement a comprehensive set of rules and procedures, including IAEA inspections, to ensure that no fissile material is diverted. to be used in weapons – something she has so far avoided.
The reactor was designed by Argentina's state-owned Invap SE.
"This reactor should be operational by the end of the year," said Rafael Mariano Grossi, Argentina's representative to the IAEA. "It depends on a number of factors. Invap is in charge of the design. They direct all operations. But local engineering is entrusted to the Saudis. "
The emergence of satellite images, first published by Bloomberg, is part of a fierce battle between the White House and the Congress for the sale of nuclear technology in Riyadh, after the US Department of Energy granted seven Permitted transfer of sensitive nuclear information by US companies to the Saudi government.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Energy Secretary Rick Perry both blocked the work of congressional committees, demanding to know what the licenses were for and what companies were involved.
On Tuesday, the head of the Independent Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Kristine Svinicki, and her colleagues remained silent when Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen repeatedly asked whether the commission had been consulted on nuclear permits.
The clashes erupted last week during a confrontation between Pompeo and the Democrats-led House Foreign Affairs Committee when lawmakers asked why the administration seemed to be protecting a Saudi regime responsible mbadive abuse of human rights, mbadive civilian deaths in Yemen, dismemberment of columnist and dissident Washington Post, Jamal Khashoggi.
Brad Sherman, a California Democrat, told Pompeo, "If you can not trust a diet with a bone saw, you should not do it with nuclear weapons."
Sherman said the issuance of the seven licenses, known as Part 810's authorizations, represented an effort by Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner to bypbad Congress and prevent the Saudi monarchy from accepting a formal agreement setting strict limits. on its nuclear program.
"This tells the country that if Jared and Donald Trump can transfer nuclear technology to the Saudis seven times and not reveal the details to Congressmen with the highest national security clearance, even in special clbadified rooms, that are hidden -they?" Sherman said in a phone interview.
There was a bipartisan majority in Congress that would insist that Saudi Arabia buy an American nuclear technology only if it accepted the "gold standard": no enrichment of any kind. 39, uranium and plutonium reprocessing, and acceptance of intrusive inspections by the IAEA.
But Sherman was less sure that Congress could overcome a presidential veto. "The cards are stacked against us," he said. "We would need a two-thirds vote and the country has become so partisan that Congress is no longer independent."
A report released in February by the House's oversight committee cited evidence from whistleblowers that senior White House politicians had repeatedly called for a swift agreement to sell nuclear reactors. in Saudi Arabia, without guarantees of non-proliferation.
According to the report, the campaign was initially led by Michael Flynn, Trump's first national security advisor, who had close ties with one of the companies that supported the project, IP3 International, but this action was was continued after dismissal of Flynn by Kushner, Perry and a friend of Trump, Tom Barrack.
Saudi Arabia acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1988 but signed in 2005 only a comprehensive safeguards agreement with the IAEA, while exempting itself from regular inspections by signing a "protocol". for small quantities' designed for countries negligible quantities of nuclear material.
Riyadh has so far resisted IAEA requests to cancel this protocol and to accept stricter controls.
Thomas Countryman, Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Non-Proliferation in the Obama Administration, said his talks with the Saudi authorities were blocked in the face of their opposition to the ban on Enrichment or reprocessing, as well as a strict inspection protocol of the IAEA.
"I think the Saudis have seen the opportunity with Trump and Kushner to quickly conclude this promise, thus holding the promise of major purchases," said Countryman, now chairman of the board of directors of the Arms Control Association.
He felt that it was unlikely that the seven export permits issued by the administration could help Saudi Arabia to develop nuclear weapons, but he questioned the lack of transparency involved.
"The unusual level of secrecy surrounding these approvals will only strengthen Congressional suspicions about the intentions of the administration and Saudi Arabia," Countryman said. "If an agreement is to be reached for the sale of US reactors to Saudi Arabia, it can be achieved and supported by Congress only by transparency and not by secrecy."
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