U.S. reaches deal with Saudis for nuclear energy commercial agreements
Washington — The U.S. and Saudi Arabia have reached an agreement for the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to have a civilian nuclear program on their soil, sources familiar with the agreement told CBS News. The deal is expected to be signed Wednesday afternoon.
The agreement would create the potential for uranium enrichment on their soil, though that would be controlled by a contracted corporation and only after a lengthy study is completed. A civilian program is for energy supply for things like AI data centers, and not a military program. The U.S., however, will want to see protocols and monitoring, and those arrangements remain unclear at this time. It's a commercial agreement, although the corporations involved are not yet disclosed.
The Wall Street Journal was first to report the deal.
A Trump administration framework for civil nuclear cooperation had been publicly announced in the fall of 2025. At the time, Energy Secretary Chris Wright described it as including bilateral safeguard agreements to bring U.S. nuclear technology to the kingdom. Wright also stipulated that this keeps a "firm commitment to nonproliferation."
The original framework for this agreement was developed under the Biden administration, which a former U.S. official with direct knowledge described as requiring U.S.-only enrichment at a U.S.-controlled facility. It would also have been subject to congressional approval.
Under former President Joe Biden, the deal had been tied to a U.S. push to incentivize Saudi Arabia to follow through on the normalization of relations with the state of Israel. Normalization was also dependent on Israel providing a pathway to a future for self-determination by Palestinians, not necessarily a state of their own, and it offered investments and diplomatic representation. After the deadly terrorist attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and the launch of the war in Gaza, that deal was put on hold.
But fuel-rich Saudi Arabia was still interested in the nuclear energy cooperation, particularly given the high degree of energy supply needed for artificial intelligence. The late Sen. Lindsey Graham had continued to work on this effort through both administrations.
The Trump deal does not appear to be overtly linked to a foreign policy objective, though the administration is at pains to reassure regional allies of the U.S. commitment to their security amid the ongoing Iran war. Saudi Arabia and other regional allies have borne the brunt of Iranian attacks since the war began at the end of February.
The landmark deal signifies the strengthening alliance and trust between the U.S. and the Saudis. But the civilian nuclear deal is likely to irritate Iran, Saudi Arabia's chief rival, which has long insisted on its right as a signatory of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to maintain a civilian nuclear program.
Saudi Arabia will not be the first Gulf state with a civilian nuclear program. Back in 2009, the Obama administration signed an agreement with the United Arab Emirates that included a pledge for peaceful nuclear energy under nonproliferation controls.
