Cooperation between Riyadh and Moscow includes a partnership in nuclear energy, including Russia's participation in the construction of reactors in Saudi Arabia, the kingdom's Energy Minister Abdel Aziz bin Salman Al Saud said.
"Cooperation with Russia includes the sphere of nuclear energy, the design and construction of reactors in the kingdom," the minister was quoted as saying by Saudi news portal Akhbar Al Saudiya on Friday night.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said at a meeting of the intergovernmental commission of Russia and Saudi Arabia on May 25 that Moscow offers Riyadh cooperation in the field of nuclear power in third countries, including the design of nuclear power plants (NPPs) with small capacity reactors. He recalled that Russia has competencies in the construction of small units for floating and land-based nuclear power plants, and the country is ready to provide Saudi Arabia with relevant proposals in this direction if there is interest.
Also, Rosatom is currently participating in a tender for the construction of a large-capacity NPP in Saudi Arabia. The state corporation has passed the first stages of selection, forming its proposal.
Saudi Arabia is looking for a company to build two units of the country's first nuclear power plant. Rosatom in February 2018 applied for participation in the tender for the construction of two nuclear power units. In addition to Rosatom, companies from the United States, China, South Korea, and France became bidders for the construction of large-capacity nuclear power plants.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS