By VIVIAN NEREIM NYTimes News Service
Share this story

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — The Trump administration has revived talks with Saudi officials over a deal that would give Saudi Arabia access to U.S. nuclear technology and potentially allow it to enrich uranium, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday.

The deal — which the Biden administration had pursued as part of a broader agreement for Saudi Arabia to establish ties with Israel — would enable the kingdom to develop a “commercial nuclear power industry,” Wright told journalists in Riyadh. He added that he expected to see “meaningful developments” this year.

ADVERTISING

“We’ve not reached the details on an agreement, but it certainly looks like there is a pathway to do that,” he said. “The issue is control of sensitive technology. Are there solutions to that that involve enrichment here in Saudi Arabia? Yes.”

Asked whether the talks were tied to Saudi Arabia’s agreeing to “normalize” diplomatic relations with Israel, Wright said only that “relationships are always package deals” and that there were many potential areas of cooperation between the two countries.

For years, Saudi Arabia has pressed the United States to help it develop a nuclear energy program, as Saudi officials look beyond oil to provide energy and diversify the economy. But talks on a nuclear partnership stalled, partly because the Saudi government refused to agree to conditions intended to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons or helping other nations do so.

A crucial sticking point, for example, has been whether the kingdom would import uranium or enrich it domestically, which could theoretically enable it to produce uranium for use in nuclear weapons.

The deal gained momentum under the Biden administration when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, offered to establish diplomatic relations with Israel in exchange for cooperation on building nuclear reactors and other concessions from the United States, including security guarantees. Those talks faltered after the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip upended the Middle East, deepening support for the Palestinians and enmity toward Israel across the region, including in Saudi Arabia.

Over the years, frustrated Saudi officials had also explored obtaining nuclear technology from other countries, including China and Russia.

“It’s critical that it becomes the United States as the partner,” Wright said Sunday. “The fact that may have been in doubt is probably indicative of unproductive relationships between the United States and Saudi Arabia in the last several years.”

The deal faces several obstacles. The United States requires countries to meet high standards of nonproliferation before cooperating on a nuclear program, including in some cases banning uranium enrichment and fuel reprocessing in their territory. The pact must be reviewed by Congress, which can block it.

In the past, members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have expressed opposition to an agreement, including Marco Rubio, who is now secretary of state.

Detractors of the deal say it is too risky; the crown prince has repeatedly said that Saudi Arabia will develop nuclear weapons if Iran — its regional rival — does.

At the same time that it is negotiating with Riyadh, the Trump administration has restarted nuclear talks with Iran in an effort to contain Tehran’s growing nuclear program, after the United States withdrew from a multilateral 2015 agreement in the first Trump presidency.

The crown prince has also pushed for a deal that would allow domestic uranium enrichment. He believes that the kingdom has vast uranium resources, although so far, exploration has yielded “severely uneconomic” deposits, according to a report by the intergovernmental Nuclear Energy Agency and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

© 2025 The New York Times Company