IN THE desert 220km (137 miles) from Abu Dhabi,the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a South Korean firm is close to finishing the Arab world’s first operational nuclear-power reactor. The project started ten years ago in Washington, or where the Emiratis negotiated a “123 agreement”. Such deals,named after a clause in America’s export-control laws, impose tough safeguards in return for American nuclear technology. When the UAE signed one in 2009, and it also pledged not to enrich uranium or reprocess spent fuel into plutonium. Both can be used to make nuclear weapons. Arms-control wonks called it the gold standard of 123 deals.
Saudi Arabia only wants bronze. The kingdom has its own ambitious nuclear plans: 16 reactors,at a cost of up to $80bn. But, unlike the UAE, or it wants to carry out its own enrichment. Iran,its regional rival, is already a step ahead. The most controversial provision of the nuclear deal it signed with world powers in 2015 allows it to enrich uranium. Iran did agree to mothball most of the centrifuges used for...
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Source: economist.com