A pair of nuclear doves in the Senate demanded Tuesday that Energy Secretary Rick Perry brief them about his negotiations to bring U.S. nuclear-power technology to Saudi Arabia.
In a letter to Perry, Sens. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) — members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — also told Perry the United States should indefinitely suspend any efforts to grease the skids for the sale of U.S. nuclear-power technology to Riyadh until the Saudi government shares what it knows about the murder of journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Turkey in October.
In meetings abroad last week, Perry and Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih “continued their dialog” on a potential agreement that could help clear the way to bring U.S. atomic energy technology to the kingdom, according to a Department of Energy readout published Monday.
Markey and Merkley often collaborate on strongly worded legislation that establishes the left-most boundary of nuclear policy debates in Congress. The two are partners on no-first-use legislation that would prohibit the United States from launching nuclear weapons unless another national launches them first.
In matters of U.S.-Saudi civil-nuclear cooperation, however, Markey and Merkley have the backing of outgoing Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.).
Corker in July approved a Senate resolution authored by Markey and Merkley that would if passed by the full Senate establish a bipartisan position that the U.S. should not share its nuclear-power technology with Saudi Arabia unless the nation agrees not to enrich its own uranium, or separate plutonium from future spent fuel.
Enriched uranium and plutonium are the materials of choice for nuclear weapons, which the kingdom currently does not possess.
