President Donald Trump sent Congress a proposed 30-year civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia on Monday, beginning a legally required review while conditioning its implementation on Riyadh establishing diplomatic relations with Israel. The pact would allow US companies to export nuclear technology and help construct civilian reactors in the kingdom.
The agreement was completed in July as Saudi Arabia sought nuclear power to meet rising electricity demand, reduce domestic oil consumption and diversify its economy. It could support projects worth tens of billions of dollars, including AP1000 reactors supplied by Westinghouse.
“The president’s position has not changed that the agreement will only move forward if Saudi Arabia joins the Abraham Accords,” a US administration official said.
Congress has 90 session days to review the agreement. Unless lawmakers adopt a resolution rejecting it, the pact can enter into force. President Trump could veto a rejection, requiring a two-thirds majority in both chambers to override him.
The political condition leaves the agreement facing an uncertain path. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly said it will not recognize Israel without an irreversible route toward an independent Palestinian state. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several members of his governing coalition oppose Palestinian statehood.
The Abraham Accords, negotiated during President Trump’s first term, established formal relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. US efforts to bring Saudi Arabia into the accords were disrupted by the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the subsequent Gaza war.
The nuclear agreement also faces scrutiny over proliferation safeguards. Some Democratic lawmakers and arms-control advocates say it should explicitly prohibit Saudi uranium enrichment and the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, technologies that can contribute to weapons development. The United Arab Emirates accepted those restrictions in its 2009 agreement with Washington.
The administration says the Saudi pact contains the nuclear safety, security and nonproliferation measures required under US law. Much of its contents remain classified, limiting public examination of the safeguards and proposed nuclear activities.