Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister said the kingdom plans to use domestically-sourced uranium to build up its nuclear power industry, Reuters reported.
The comments by the minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, were made on Wednesday during a mining industry conference in Riyadh.
He added that recent exploration had shown a diverse portfolio of uranium in the Gulf Arab state, the world's top oil exporter.
"The kingdom intends to utilize its national uranium resources, including in joint ventures with willing partners in accordance with international commitments and transparency standards," Abdulaziz bin Salman said.
He added that this would involve "the entire nuclear fuel cycle which involves the production of yellowcake, low enriched uranium and the manufacturing of nuclear fuel both for our national use and of course for export".
In 2018, the Saudi kingdom declared its intentions to pursue a non-military nuclear program, with plans to build 16 nuclear power plants over the next quarter century.
It is unclear where its ambitions end, as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that year that the kingdom would develop nuclear weapons if regional rival Iran did.
The Saudis have been vocal critics of Iran’s nuclear program. During the negotiations between Iran and world powers on the 2015 nuclear deal, Saudi Arabia and other major Sunni states expressed concern over a deal which would allow Iran to produce nuclear weapons – a position which placed them very close to Israel’s position on the matter.
Ultimately, however, Saudi Arabia's government announced that it welcomed the deal, which broke down in 2018 after then-US President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement.
Last month, after indirect talks between the US and Iran on a return to the 2015 deal broke down, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, said that “all bets are off” if Tehran were to obtain nuclear weapons.
"We are in a very dangerous space in the region...you can expect that regional states will certainly look towards how they can ensure their own security," he added.