Saudi Arabia has exciting plans to sell minerals, including uranium. Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the energy minister, announced this at a conference in Dhahran. He said, “We will enrich it and we will sell it. We will make ‘yellowcake,’” which is a powder made from uranium that’s used to create fuel for nuclear reactors.
Although handling yellowcake is safe, it does need careful treatment. Saudi Arabia is starting to develop its nuclear program and wants to enrich uranium, which is a sensitive subject because it could lead to making nuclear weapons. The country aims to use nuclear power to have different energy sources.
In 2018, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman warned that Saudi Arabia might build nuclear weapons if Iran continues to do so. The United Arab Emirates, another Gulf country, has the first nuclear power plant in the Arab world and decided not to enrich uranium or reprocess spent fuel.
Last year, Saudi Arabia said it would reduce the oversight of its nuclear activities by the U.N. nuclear agency and start using regular checks by the end of 2024. Currently, the kingdom hasn’t activated its first nuclear reactor, which means its program is still under a special agreement that requires less reporting and fewer inspections
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