Saudi, South Korea ink nuclear cooperation deal

Nov 16 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Arab News, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday signed an agreement with South Korea on developing nuclear power generation to help meet the Kingdom's rising energy demand.

Saudi Arabia and South Korea "entered into a bilateral agreement designed to enhance cooperation between the two countries in the development and use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes," said the statement from the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KA-CARE).

Hashim Yamani, president of KA-CARE, signed the agreement in Seoul on behalf of the Kingdom while South Korea was represented by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Kim Sung-Hwan.

The agreement is aimed at establishing a "legal framework that strengthens scientific, technological and economic cooperation between the two nations, while reaffirming their desire to place the highest priority on nuclear safety and environmental protection," the statement said.

Under the agreement's terms, the two countries will cooperate in the "design, construction, operation, maintenance and development of nuclear power plants." the statement added.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, "aims at developing a sustainable energy mix that includes nuclear energy, to cope with the accelerating local energy demand reaching 8% annually," said the statement.

The Kingdom is seeking to diversify its sources of energy for domestic use.

In February, it signed a cooperation agreement with France on peaceful nuclear energy development, having inked a similar deal with the United States in 2008.

The deals were followed by a similar agreement with Argentina, and the Kingdom is also in talks with Britain, China, the Czech Republic and Russia, the statement said.

Saudi Arabia plans to build 16 civilian nuclear reactors in the next two decades at a cost of SR300 billion ($80 billion), Abdul Ghani Malibari, coordinator at the Saudi civil nuclear agency, said in June.

He said the Kingdom would launch an international invitation to tender for the reactors to be used in power generation and desalination in the Kingdom.