From the Liveblog of
Thursday, April 4, 2019
Expert: Satellite images show Saudi nuclear reactor to be completed next year
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleA nuclear technology expert says Google satellite images show Saudi Arabia is about a year away from completing the building of its first nuclear reactor. He says the construction so far appears to be very small in size, indicating the reactor is intended for research purposes.
Still, Robert Kelley says before the kingdom can insert nuclear fuel into the reactor, it would have to abide by an agreement that requires inspections by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
New satellite images: Saudi Arabia is "within months" of completing its first nuclear reactor, show, but it has yet to show any readiness to abide by safeguards that would prevent it making a bomb pic.twitter.com/SJY3lT7QGr
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) April 4, 2019
Kelley, a veteran of the US Department of Energy now based in Vienna, was first to identify the images of the reactor site in Riyadh at the King Abdulaziz City of Science and Technology.
He says the Saudi reactor is being built by the Argentinian government-owned company INVAP.
The Times of Israel Community.