Trump administration signs commercial nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia

The Trump administration has signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia that would allow American companies to run commercial nuclear power plants on Saudi soil.

The agreement was signed by Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the Department of Energy announced on Wednesday. They also signed an accompanying agreement about safeguards. The deal must be reviewed by Congress, which has 90 days to consider it.

The cooperation agreement gives American companies priority access to the Saudi nuclear energy program, meaning they can supply nuclear reactors and fuel, according to an administration memo about the agreement seen by NPR. It’s expected to last decades and be worth billions of dollars, the Energy Department said.