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IAEA asks Saudis for safeguards on first nuclear reactor
AFP-JIJI
WASHINGTON - The head U.N. nuclear inspector said Friday that his agency is asking Saudi Arabia to agree to safeguards on nuclear material that could arrive by the end of the year for its first atomic reactor.
Satellite imagery recently emerged of the Argentine-built project on the outskirts of Riyadh, which comes amid controversy in Washington over U.S. President Donald Trump’s approval of nuclear projects with the oil-rich kingdom.
Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said that there is nothing secret about the reactor and that Saudi Arabia informed the Vienna-based U.N. body about its plans in 2014.
He said the IAEA has encouraged Saudi Arabia to put into force a comprehensive safeguard agreement, under which the agency ensures that nuclear material is not being diverted to weapons use.
Saudi Arabia in 2005 signed with the IAEA a so-called small quantities protocol, which exempts countries from inspections if they have no or minimal nuclear programs.
“We have proposed to Saudi Arabia to rescind and replace it by the full-fledged comprehensive safeguards agreement,” Amano told reporters in Washington. “They didn’t say no, they didn’t say yes, and they are now giving thoughts. We are waiting. For now, they don’t have the material, so there is no violation.”
Amano said that Saudi Arabia may bring in nuclear material “by the end of the year,” although he cautioned that nuclear projects frequently get delayed.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s top crude exporter, has announced plans to spend $80 billion to build 16 nuclear reactors over the coming two decades as it diversifies energy.
The first project, being built by Argentina’s state-backed nuclear company INVAP, is a so-called low power research reactor (LPRR) that is generally used to train technicians.
“Saudi Arabia has been dragging its feet for 30 years on getting meaningful agreements in place; but the LPRR means they MUST abide by international rules,” said Robert Kelley, a U.S. Energy Department veteran and former director of nuclear inspections at the IAEA.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/04/06/world/iaea-asks-saudis-safeguards-first-nuclear-reactor/