Energy From Thorium Discussion Forum

The Kingdom plans to build sixteen nuclear power plants at an estimated cost of $112 billion to meet its electricity needs as the country aims to transform herself into one of the world’s largest nuclear producers. Saudi Arabia, along with her Gulf Cooperation Council allies, currently consume more primary energy than the whole of Africa, yet have one-twentieth of Africa’s population. Almost 100 percent of that energy is produced from oil and gas without carbon dioxide abatement. If the region’s fuel demand continues to rise as it has over the past decade, energy consumption would double by 2024. In line with these trends, Saudi Arabia’s position as the world’s largest swing producer of petroleum could decline. As global energy production costs are not declining, it is not surprising that the Kingdom has chosen a nuclear power strategy to maintain its oil generated export revenues as it accounts for 80 percent of its national revenue. Saudi Arabia’s growing energy demand coupled with its generous domestic energy subsidies could therefore potentially curtail the country’s ability to export its oil and gas liquids. While these trends pose clear challenges to the Saudi treasury, they also present opportunities for US businesses to enter what could become the world’s largest nuclear market: Saudi Arabia also has the necessary capital markets and financial resources required to support its apparent energy transformation vision.

Fat chance they'll be buying American-designed reactors. In all likelihood they'll buy from Russia, China, or South Korea.

That's why the UAE had to have a section 123 agreement with the US before the South Koreans could build their four reactors at Barakah.

Doesn't Japan send their fuel to France to be reprocessed?

NUCLEAR NEWS FLASHES - Monday, February 12, 2007
INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
--THE TWELFTH AND LAST VITRIFIED WASTE SHIPMENT FROM FRANCE TO JAPAN is headed
for its destination via the Panama Canal, Areva NC said February 9. The specialized vessel, the Pacific Sandpiper, left the port of Cherbourg February 8 and is expected to reach the Japanese port of Mutsu-Ogawa in the second half of March. It is carrying six casks with 130 containers of vitrified high-level waste coming from reprocessing of Japanese spent fuel at Areva's La Hague complex. The first such shipment occurred in 1995; 10 others occurred between 1997 and 2006. Over that period, some 2,900 metric tons heavy metal of Japanese spent fuel were reprocessed and 1,300 casks totaling almost 700 metric tons of waste were returned to Japan, according to Areva. Japanese utilities stopped sending spent fuel to Europe in 1990 in anticipation of reprocessing at their domestic plant at Rokkashomura, which just began operation.