Saudi Arabia will extract uranium domestically as a step towards “self-sufficiency” in producing atomic fuel, a senior government official said Monday. Hashim bin Abdullah Yamani, head of the Saudi government agency tasked with the nuclear plans, told Reuters that the move makes sense from an economic point of view. The world’s largest oil exporter said it wants to tap atomic power for peaceful purposes only in order to diversify its energy supply, Reuters reported. SWISS FORMALIZE INTERMEDIARY ROLE BETWEEN SAUDI ARABIA, IRANAccording to Reuters, Saudi Arabia would be the second country in the Gulf Arab region to tap uranium. Yamani also said that Saudi Arabia will soon pass laws for its nuclear program and will have set up all of the regulations for its nuclear regulator by the third quarter of 2018.

Source: Fox News October 30, 2017 18:11 UTC