Dr. Hashim Abdullah Yamani, the President of King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE) has signed an Agreement on Cooperation in the field of Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Russian Federation. The Agreement signature has concurrently taken place with the present visit to Russia by His Royal Highness the Deputy Crown Prince, Prince Mohammad ibn Salman. The Agreement aims to promote and strengthen the relationships between the two countries to the best interest of both sides, both economically and technically. The Agreement is based on equality, non-intervention in internal affairs of both countries and mutual respect of sovereignty of both countries. The Agreement emphasizes the continued fruitful cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Russia in economic, technical, and scientific fields. It is noteworthy that Russia has recently emerged prominently in the field of atomic energy technology. Russia is among the few countries having full industrial chain of commercial nuclear reactors used in the production of electrical power. Besides, Russia is currently involved in constructing nine nuclear reactors at home. Moreover, Russia is under contract with several countries to construct nuclear reactors. Internationally, there are now 67 new reactors under construction now worldwide, mostly in Asia and Eastern Europe. Demand forecasts indicate that the demand for nuclear energy is on the increase. These forecasts indicate the world demand for nuclear energy is 2.1-5%. The same sources indicated that the demand for nuclear energy in the Mid-Eastern countries and East Asia now ranges between 10.4% and 14.7%.

The Saudi leadership realizes that the peaceful uses of the nuclear energy , protection from radiation and nuclear safety are essential factors for the achievement of socio-economic development, hence comes this type of cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Russia in this field. This will surely further enhance the endeavors to versify energy sources through the introduction of integrated energy system in which nuclear energy will play a vital role.