Lawmakers have criticized the Trump administration for issuing

seven so-called Part 810 authorizations to companies on sharing

nuclear power information with Saudi Arabia and withholding
information about them. They want to ensure the kingdom
eventually agrees to strong nuclear power safeguards on uranium
enrichment and reprocessing to avoid the risk of an arms race in
the Middle East.

Several lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives

have asked the administration for details on the authorizations,
but were told that even the names of companies that got them are
proprietary. Previous 810 authorizations were made available to
the public at the Department of Energy headquarters.

“Congress cannot play its oversight role and ensure U.S. civil
nuclear cooperation efforts do not encourage the spread of
nuclear weapons-making capabilities” when presidential
administrations withhold information from lawmakers, Senator
Marco Rubio said.

Rubio and fellow Republican Senator Todd Young introduced the

bill with Democratic Senators Tim Kaine and Edward Markey. A
similar bill is expected in the House.

The Trump administration has had talks with Saudi Arabia, which
has been resistant to safeguards in a civilian nuclear cooperation
pact known as a 123 agreement, which is subject to congressional
approval. Such a deal would have to be signed before the transfer
of materials to build reactors. The administration has also been
trying to convince Riyadh to agree to safeguards in a so-called
Additional Protocol from the International Atomic Energy
Agency.

Markey asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a hearing to

commit to sharing the 810 applications and authorizations.
Pompeo said he would take the request under consideration but
that other agencies have a voice in the authorizations, signed by
Energy Secretary Rick Perry.

Saudi Arabia says its plans are peaceful. But Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman said last year the kingdom would
develop nuclear arms if its rival Iran did.

Riyadh plans to issue a multi-billion-dollar tender in 2020 to

build its first two nuclear power reactors, sources said this month.
Originally expected last year, the tender has been delayed several
times.

The United States, South Korea, Russia, China and France are
competing for the business. U.S. reactor builder Westinghouse,
owned by Brookfield Asset Management Inc, would likely sell
nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia in any deal that involved U.S.
technology.

The bill, which faces an uncertain future in a tight congressional

schedule, would amend the 1954 Atomic Energy Act to require
the Department of Energy to turn over to the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee
reports on all 810 applications it receives and the authorizations it
makes and denies.
The chairs and ranking members of those committees could also
ask the Energy Department for records on any 810 applications
that are approved or pending, and the department would have 10
days to do so.