The Trump administration began formal negotiations on a Deal 123 with Saudi Arabia in February 2018, although negotiations have been concluded repeatedly since 2012. The negotiations will be led by Energy Secretary Rick Perry. Although some officials, particularly at the State Department, have said the government is urging Saudi Arabia to commit to giving up its ability to produce nuclear fuel and adopt the IAEA`s Additional Protocol, reports suggest that Saudi Arabia has resisted these restrictions. Concerns about nuclear cooperation with Saudi Arabia grew after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said last year that Saudi Arabia would develop nuclear weapons if Iran did, and after the October 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Congress has shown bipartisan support for both promoting the provisions of the gold standard and a more active role for Congress in overseeing the ongoing negotiations with Saudi Arabia in particular and Accord 123 in general. Members of Congress expressed concern over reports of a potential conflict of interest by senior administration officials negotiating a U.S.-Saudi civil nuclear cooperation agreement, as well as the secrecy of ongoing negotiations and recent Approvals by the Trump administration, saying they had not been properly assessed under the Atomic Energy Act. “This agreement will benefit both our countries. and is another example of the strong relationship between the United States and the United Arab Emirates,” Sheikh Abdullah said. “Under this agreement, the UAE will have access to significant capabilities and experience in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. This will enable the UAE to develop its civilian nuclear programme to the highest standards of security, security and non-proliferation. The agreement will also open up opportunities for U.S.
companies to actively participate in the UAE`s nuclear energy program. Section 123 requires the State Department to provide a Nuclear Proliferation Assessment Statement (NPAS) explaining how the Nuclear Cooperation Agreement meets these non-proliferation requirements. Congress has a total of 90 days in uninterrupted session to review the agreement, after which it automatically becomes law unless Congress passes a joint resolution opposing it. WASHINGTON, DC (15. January 2009) – His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today signed a bilateral agreement on peaceful nuclear cooperation that improves international standards for nuclear non-proliferation and security. According to an April 2008 white paper published by the UAE, domestic electricity generation needs to increase from 16 gigawatts (GW) to 40 GW by 2020 to meet the expected increase in demand in a fast-growing region that includes the important port of Dubai. [9] Although the UAE has the fourth largest proven reserves of natural gas in the Middle East, officials argue in the White Paper that “the known quantities of natural gas that could be made available to the country`s electricity sector would not be sufficient to meet future demand.” [10] The high sulphur content of UAE natural gas has made domestic production difficult and costly. [11] Despite the high cost of extracting natural gas, the Uae produced 1,659 billion cubic metres (Bcm) and consumed 1,457 billion cubic metres of natural gas in 2007. [12] However, if the estimates are correct and domestic energy consumption increases by 11-18%, the UAE will be a net importer of gas after 2020. [13] These expected natural gas shortages and high production costs led to the development of the Dolphin project, an agreement to import natural gas from Qatar.
[14] However, emirate officials insisted that Qatar`s dependence on natural gas “will raise sensitive issues related to security of supply,” which led to an investigation into other potential energy sources for power generation. [15] Currently, the UAE depends on Qatar for sixty percent of its natural gas. However, Qatar recently imposed a moratorium on additional natural gas exports until at least 2013, suspending a planned expansion of the Dolphin pipeline. The UAE is now considering importing natural gas from Egypt and Iran to diversify its supply. [16] The cooperation agreement between the United States and the United Arab Emirates followed a 2006 announcement by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to examine civil nuclear energy […].