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Saudi-Russian cooperation includes construction of nuclear reactors, minister says

Russia’s Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation is currently participating in a tender to construct a high-yield nuclear power plant in Saudi Arabia

CAIRO, June 4. /TASS/. The cooperation between Riyadh and Moscow includes their partnership in the nuclear energy sphere, particularly Russia’s involvement in construction of reactors in Saudi Arabia, Saudi Minister of Energy Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud said.

"The cooperation with Russia includes the nuclear energy sphere, designing and building reactors in the kingdom," the Akhbar Al-Saudia news portal quoted him as saying on Friday.

On May 25, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told a meeting of the Russian-Saudi intergovernmental commission that Moscow offers cooperation to Riyadh in the sphere of nuclear energy in third countries, particularly when designing projects of nuclear power plants with low-power reactors. He recalled that Russia has experience in constructing small reactor blocks for floating and land nuclear power plants, while the country is ready to communicate relevant offers in this sphere to Saudi Arabia if there is interest.

Moreover, Russia’s Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation is currently participating in a tender to construct a high-yield nuclear power plant in Saudi Arabia. The Russian agency passed the first review stages and presented its offer.

Saudi Arabia is currently looking for a company to construct two energy blocks for the first nuclear power plant in the country. Rosatom submitted its application in February 2018. Companies from the US, China, South Korea and France are bidding alongside the Russian corporation.

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