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Saudi Arabia Prepares to Sign IAEA Agreements
Saudi Arabia plans to sign documents that would provide for limited international oversight of any nuclear work in the country, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, April 27, 2004). A March 9 letter to the U.N. nuclear watchdog included “an authorization from the government of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to sign the comprehensive safeguards agreements and the Small Quantities Protocol,” Saudi disarmament official Naif Bin Bandar Al-Sudairy said in a speech yesterday at the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty review conference in New York. The safeguards agreements allow for IAEA inspections of nuclear facilities in a country. Saudi Arabia was one of 27 non-nuclear nations that had not signed the agreements, AFP reported. The Small Quantities Protocol, however, allows NPT member states to forgo reporting possession of up to 10 tons of natural uranium and 2.2 pounds of plutonium. The rule also allows new nuclear facilities to be kept secret until six months prior to operation. Saudi officials have denied claims that they might seek nuclear technology or weapons, according to AFP. The nation continues to support efforts for a nuclear-free Middle East, the Saudi envoy said in his NPT speech. The International Atomic Energy Agency has argued abolishing the Small Quantities Protocol, fearing it could undermine its nuclear inspections efforts. The rule would allow for exceptions on submitting design information or “initial reports on all nuclear material” even for nations that have signed the Additional Protocol, which allows for more intrusive IAEA inspections, according to a document circulated in February by the agency (Michael Adler, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, May 5).
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