Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) remains concerned that a prospective U.S.-Saudi Arabia 123 agreement may not include the “gold standard” nonproliferation provisions that bar uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing.
“You know, I have raised this at every opportunity, and always the answer is opaque,” Merkley said in an interview. “But what my impression is, no intention to do the gold standard with Saudi Arabia.”
Section 123 agreements, created throughr the Atomic Energy Act, establish the legal framework for civilian nuclear cooperation between the United States and foreign countries. The so-called gold standard has been a key benchmark for some lawmakers and nonproliferation advocates because it limits pathways that could be used to produce weapons-grade nuclear material.
The issue carries added significance in the Middle East because of regional tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Merkley said.
“If you think of Saudi Arabia and Iran as the most powerful nations in terms of the Shiite world and the Sunni world, then here we are asking Iran to give up enrichment completely,” Merkley said. “Are we handing now to Saudi Arabia the ability to enrich? That makes it very hard to have a long-term agreement.”
Merkley has previously backed legislation intended to establish stricter guardrails for any civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Riyadh.
Asked whether senators broadly support his approach, Merkley said nuclear nonproliferation issues do not receive significant attention from many lawmakers. “I don’t think most senators actually pay much attention to the issues of nuclear proliferation,” he said.
Merkley pointed to his own background working on nuclear policy issues during the Congressional Budget Office and under former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger in the Reagan administration as shaping his focus on proliferation risks. “So it’s very high on my mind, the risk of nuclear proliferation,” he said.