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Saudi Arabia to extract uranium for 'self-sufficient' nuclear program
Saudi Arabia plans to extract uranium domestically as part of its nuclear power program and sees this as a step towards "self-sufficiency" in producing atomic fuel, a senior official said on Monday.
Extracting its own uranium also makes sense from an economic point of view, said Hashim bin Abdullah Yamani, head of the Saudi government agency tasked with the nuclear plans, the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE).
In a speech at an international nuclear power conference in Abu Dhabi, he did not specify whether Saudi Arabia seeks to also enrich and reprocess uranium – steps in the fuel cycle which are especially sensitive as they can open up the possibility of military uses of the material.
The world's top oil exporter says it wants to tap atomic power for peaceful purposes only in order to diversify its energy supply and will award a construction contract for its first two nuclear reactors by the end of 2018.
Meanwhile, women will be allowed to attend sporting events at stadiums. And here's a message for the skeptics (editorial).
Also at Newsweek.
Previously: Saudi Arabia Will Lift Ban on Women Drivers Next Year
Saudi Arabia Planning $500 Billion Megacity and Business Zone
Robot Granted "Citizenship" in Saudi Arabia, Sparking Backlash
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 01 2017, @06:19PM
It was for Uranium One, a Canadian company. A Canadian company *I* had a small state in and that *I* was one of the shareholders that voted to sell to Russians.
Except it didn't because Uranium One never had any major assets. They had some smaller assets *in the US*, but US doesn't have uranium resources like in northern Saskatchewan (in Canada for those foreigners). If you want major Uranium play company, look no further than Cameco. And they have enough resources to take care of any demand by any US power company going forward.
But this entire thing is bullshit. Russians wasted a lot of money because they were betting on nuclear renaissance. And that most likely now will not happen, especially since CO2 limits are simply going to be ignored anyway. This was a strategic investment in uranium resources by a Russian state company. It was not a political decision by Putin or Clinton. Remember people, assets like mines are fixed. And it is always possible to nationalize such things later, so WTF is the hoopla about?? Certainly not a rational problem.