24 Jan (NucNet): Saudi Arabia has received offers from five countries to build the first two nuclear power plants in the kingdom, an official said.
Khalid Al-Sultan, president of the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, said the countries are Russia, China, the US, France and South Korea.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude oil exporter, plans to build two nuclear power plants to reduce its dependence on oil for power generation. It has ambitious plans to build a total of 16 plants over the next 20 to 25 years, the media has reported.
Earlier this week the Saudi government said on social media that it had approved a national programme for nuclear energy which stipulates that “all nuclear activities will serve only peaceful purposes within the framework defined by international agreements.” The government gave no further details of the programme.
