Saudi Arabia plans domestic uranium value chain

Saudi Arabia wants to build a domestic uranium value chain, running from exploration through yellowcake production, alongside adding nuclear power to its energy mix, Energy and Industry Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said at the IAEA General Conference in Vienna.

The Kingdom is pursuing three main tracks to develop its uranium resources — extracting uranium as a byproduct of phosphoric acid production for phosphate fertilizer, developing resources identified at Jabal Sayid in Madinah, and expanding geological surveys for conventional uranium deposits. Jabal Sayid contains around 114 mn tons of ore with high concentrations of rare earth elements alongside uranium indications.

The program is being pursued “transparently” with no activities done “in hiding” or at “undisclosed facilities,” Prince Abdulaziz said, noting this will happen through international partnerships and cooperation with the IAEA, rather than “in isolation from the international community.” The remarks were aimed at Iran, whose main enrichment sites sit deep underground and which has blocked agency checks on its near-bomb-grade stockpile since June 2025.

Washington’s line is narrower: There are “no plans at all for enrichment in Saudi Arabia,” US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said yesterday, according to Bloomberg, describing July’s 30-year civil nuclear pact as being about commercial power generation. Riyadh’s stated ambition runs to the full fuel cycle.

REMEMBER- Riyadh won’t sign the IAEA’s additional protocol — the tool that gives the UN nuclear watchdog its most sweeping inspection powers — but is negotiating bespoke bilateral provisions to sit in its place, which would authorize the agency to monitor uranium enrichment, conversion, and reprocessing specifically.

Why it matters: The push points to ambitions in refining and processing rather than raw extraction alone. The Kingdom is working with US-based MP Materials on refining at Jabal Sayid and with France’s Orano to extract uranium from its phosphate resources, which could make processing a larger share of its next investment cycle.