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Netanyahu Warns U.S. Lawmakers about Saudi Nuclear Power Deal
(Bloomberg) Ari Natter - U.S. and Saudi negotiators have yet to reach a deal to allow American companies to build nuclear power reactors in the kingdom, but the idea is already getting pushback from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During a closed door meeting with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington on Tuesday, Netanyahu spoke out against any agreement that would allow the Saudis to enrich uranium and reprocess plutonium, said committee chairman Sen. Bob Corker. Sen. Ed Markey said, "I think his view is that they need fewer nuclear weapons and fewer nuclear materials, not more nuclear materials in the Middle East." Allowing Saudi Arabia to enrich and reprocess fuel from commercial nuclear power plants would be a break from previous agreements with the United Arab Emirates and other countries that forbid such activity. U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry led a delegation to London last week to meet with Saudi officials and discuss a potential deal for as many as 16 reactors over the next 25 years at a cost of more than $80 billion.