[ad_1]
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman laid the foundation stone for the kingdom's first nuclear research reactor on Monday, the Saudi news agency reported.
Mr Salman on Monday launched seven projects in the fields of renewable energy, atomic energy, water desalination, genetic medicine and the aviation industry during his visit to the United States. King Abdulaziz's City for Science and Technology, reported on Monday Al Jazeera.
In March, the Crown Prince announced that Saudi Arabia would develop nuclear weapons in case Iran moved in that direction. "Saudi Arabia does not wish to acquire any nuclear bomb, but it goes without saying that if Iran develops a nuclear bomb, we will do the same" as soon as possible, "he told CBS. News.
Salman then denied that Iran was a rival of Saudi Arabia. He added that the Iranian army was not among the top five armies of Western Asia and that his country's economy was larger than Iran's.
In 2017, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the Saudi government had issued a call for proposals for the construction of two nuclear reactors. The kingdom plans to build a nuclear capacity of 17.6 gigawatts by 2032, the equivalent of about 17 reactors, making it one of the largest projects in the world.
The move towards nuclear energy is a kingdom effort to reduce the amount of crude oil that it uses locally to produce electricity in order to allow it to sell a larger amount of this oil. abroad, Reuters reported.
