Russian state nuclear company Rosatom has been shortlisted to participate in the tender for Saudi Arabia’s first nuclear power plant, according to local press reports.

According to a report in the Saudi Gazette, Rosatom will be invited to participate in the upcoming tender by the King Abdullah City for Atomic & Renewable Energy (KA-Care), the body overseeing the kingdom’s nuclear energy programme.

Earlier in July, South Korea’s energy ministry revealed that state utility provider Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) had made the shortlist for the first Saudi nuclear power tender.

The first nuclear power project planned in Saudi Arabia will have two reactors and a capacity of about 2.8GW. MEED reported in March that the Saudi government had approved the nuclear programme proposed by KA-Care.

The government reviewed the proposed nuclear programme on 13 March, and published new guidelines to ensure that nuclear power development will comply with international legislation and conventions.

Saudi Arabia started the process of soliciting interest for its first nuclear power plant late last year. MEED reported in December that KA-Care had received requests for information (RFI) from a number of the world’s largest nuclear power providers, including the US-based Westinghouse, France’s EDF and Rosatom of Russia.

The kingdom’s first nuclear project is planned to be a two-reactor 2.8GW plant. MEED reported in January that the kingdom was assessing two potential sites for its first nuclear power plant (NPP) project.

According to details garnered by MEED projects and corroborated by sources close to the programme, the kingdom has shortlisted two sites for its first atomic energy project, and has invited consultants to submit proposals for the contract to conduct a site characterisation study, environmental impact assessment (EIA) and preliminary safety analysis report (PSRA) to assist with the selection of the preferred site.

The two shortlisted sites are at Umm Huwayd and Khor Duweihin. Both are on the coast near the UAE and Qatari borders.

The two sites were shortlisted following investigations conducted in 2011 and 2012, in accordance with sitting guidance issued by international regulatory agencies, including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

Initially, 17 potential sites had been identified, of which nine were close to the Red Sea coast, six on the Arabian Gulf and two locations further inland.

Riyadh is planning to develop nuclear energy through three main programmes.

The first two of these will involve building and installing nuclear power plants, with the third targeting mined uranium resources to fuel the plants, sources close to the kingdom’s nuclear programme have told MEED.

In addition to building large-scale nuclear power plants at various sites across the country, Riyadh is also planning to develop nuclear power at several locations through SMART (System-integrated Modular Advanced Reactor) facilities, which will produce nuclear power from much smaller reactors. KA-Care signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with South Korea in November 2016 to develop the technology in the kingdom.

According to a source at KA-Care, Saudi Arabia owns a percentage of the intellectual property (IP) rights for the technology, and they are already moving ahead with plans to develop the first two SMART reactors within the next four years. They will have a capacity of about 100MW each.

The kingdom is also seeking to launch a programme to mine uranium, which will be used to produce fuel for the nuclear plants and also for other uses such as nuclear medicine. Developing the kingdom’s mining sector is a key pillar of the Saudi Vision 2030, which was launched in April 2016.