China, Saudi Arabia sign cooperation deals on nuclear energy

BEIJING – 28 – August 2017: China National Nuclear Corp, one of the country's largest nuclear companies, signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia last week to further explore and assess uranium and thorium resources in the country, China Daily reported on Monday.

The two countries also vowed to further continuously cooperate on nuclear energy projects following discussions between the two sides to support Saudi Arabia's nuclear energy program.

Saudi Arabia has been trying to diversify its energy mix for years as oil resources are needed to generate revenue through exports.

China and Saudi Arabia in 2012 signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on the civilian use of nuclear energy.

CNNC said it's one step closer to exporting its high-temperature gas cooled reactor projects to countries that include Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Its HTGR fuel assembly line entered mass production last month at China North Nuclear Fuel, which is headquartered in Baotou in northern China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

CNNC President Wang Shoujun said CNNC has already signed memorandums of understanding with Saudi Arabia and the UAE in HTGR project cooperation, signaling that decades of research on the reactor have paid off.