U.S.-Saudi Arabia Civil Nuclear Agreement: U.S. Interests and Priorities

In late 2025, the Trump administration notified the U.S. Congress that officials had concluded a so-called 123 agreement on civil nuclear cooperation with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The administration will reportedly present this agreement to the Congress in the near future. The Biden administration had earlier explored such an agreement within a wider effort at diplomatic normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel. A civil nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia impacts many important U.S. national interests in national security, nonproliferation, trade, jobs, geopolitics, technology, and other areas.

On February 23, the Center for the National Interest, in partnership with the Nuclear Energy and National Security Coalition (NENSC), assembled an impressive panel to discuss America’s nuclear energy and nonproliferation interests in a 123 agreement with Saudi Arabia.

—Robert Einhorn, Senior Fellow in the Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Initiative and the Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology at the Brookings Institution. He was Special Advisor for Nonproliferation and Arms Control to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and later advised the Obama administration on nonproliferation and headed the delegation that negotiated the renewal of the U.S.-South Korea civil nuclear agreement. Earlier, he served as Assistant Secretary of State for Nonproliferation and in various other posts in the State Department and the former U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.

—Daniel Poneman, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He has served previously as Deputy Secretary of Energy and, more recently, as President and CEO of Centrus Energy Corp., a nuclear fuel and services company. Poneman was a Principal at the Scowcroft Group after working as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Nonproliferation and Export Controls. He has also practiced law at Hogan & Hartson and Covington & Burling.

—Stephen Rademaker, Of Counsel at Covington & Burling. He has been Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control and for International Security and Nonproliferation and led the George W. Bush administration’s Proliferation Security Initiative. On Capitol Hill, Rademaker was Senior Counsel and Policy Director for National Security Affairs to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Chief Counsel for the House Select Committee on Homeland Security (and had a lead role in drafting the legislation that established DHS), and Deputy Staff Director and Chief Counsel of the House Committee on International Relations. He also had various White House and NSC roles during the George H.W. Bush administration.

Paul Saunders, President of the Center for the National Interest, moderated the discussion.