Radiant in Deal Deliver Its Microreactor to USAF
Radiant Chosen for Testing at INL DOME Facility
Radiant to Manufacture a Microreactor in Wyoming
General Matter Gets DOE Lease at Paducah for Uranium Enrichment
NRC Accepts GLE Application to License Its Laser Enrichment Plant
Lightbridge Nuclear Fuel Ready for Irradiation Tests at INL
Saudi Arabia Re-ignites Quest for a Commercial Nuclear Reactor Program
Radiant in Deal to Deliver Its Microreactor to USAF
Radiant Nuclear, a startup based in California, announced this week that it signed an agreement to deliver the first-of-a-kind (FOAK) unit of its microreactor to a U.S. Air Force military based in 2028. The value of the contract and the location of the USAF base to receive the microreactor were not disclosed in press materials.
Radiant has previously received funding awards from the US Department of Defense to evaluate the integration of microreactors at the Hill Air Force Base. The military installation, located just off I-25, is 30 miles north of Salt Lake City UT, and 182 miles south of Idaho Falls, ID.
The deal with the USAF is a first for what is intended to be a “mass-manufactured” microreactor. The customer for the plant is the Defense Innovation Unit, Department of the Air Force. The DIU describes its role as the only DoD organization focused on accelerating the adoption of commercial and dual-use technology to solve operational challenges at speed and scale.
This is the second deal for the USAF to procure a microreactror. In June the Department of the Air Force (DAF), in coordination with the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Energy Office, reached a critical milestone in piloting advanced nuclear energy technology. It issued a Notice of Intent to Award (NOITA) to Oklo, Inc. for its advanced microreactor.
The contract with Radiant comes soon after the Department of Energy selected Radiant’s Kaleidos reactor to be scheduled to test next year at Idaho National Laboratory’s Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) facility. This will be the first new design of a U.S. reactor to be tested at DOME in almost 50 years.
“We’re proud to be the first agreement designed to deliver mass-manufactured nuclear microreactors for a U.S. military base,” said Radiant CEO and Founder Doug Bernauer.
“In 36 months, Kaleidos reactors will arrive via truck and within 48 hours plug in, power on, and provide resilient, cyber-secure power to our nation’s Air Force for years without refueling. The mandate of the USAF innovation office is to strengthen our national security by accelerating the adoption of dual-use technology for the military. “
Radiant’s nuclear progress has included hiring former US DOE Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Rita Baranwal in June. Her distinguished technical career includes executive roles at the INL and Westinghouse prior to her government service.
About the Radiant Nuclear Reactor
Radiant’s Kaleidos design is a transportable micro-reactor designed to generate 3MWth and approximately 1MWe. The Kaleidos micro-reactor is a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) using TRISO fuel, helium gas coolant, and prismatic graphite blocks. Each micro-reactor will be fully contained in a single shipping container.
The reactor is designed to weigh 70 tons (140,000 pounds) and to fit in an 11 x 11 x 35 container. Radiant says the reactor can set up to be producing power within 48 hours of delivery at a customer site. The reactor has a five-year fuel cycle and a 20-year service life. The refueling cycle is carried out at a remote maintenace facility with the reactor returned to service with fresh fuel.
Radiant Fuel Plans
Radiant plans to use HALEU for its Kaleidos SMR. In 2022, Radiant launched a Request for Proposals for fuel fabricators to produce TRISO fuel, and in 2023 the company entered into an agreement with Centrus Energy to work towards a future supply of HALEU for up to 20 Kaleidos microreactors. In 2023, Radiant also received funding from the DOE to support activities related to qualification modelling for TRISO fuel.
NRC Interactions
Radiant Nuclear filed its Regulatory Engagement Plan ( ML23286A328 ) in October 2023. Like other developers of advanced nuclear microreactors, Radiant has been submitting topical reports to the NRC are part of its pre-licensing work. For instance, in June it submitted its Radiant Factory Sitting Assessment. However, to protect proprietary information, this document and many like it are slated solely for internal use at the NRC.
According to documents filed with the NRC, as of April this year Radiant was asssessing both Part 50 and Part 52 licensing scenarios ( ML25013A338 ). Chanson Yang, Head of Regulatory Engineering at Radiant, is the indicated point of contact in regulatory filings with the agency.
The National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC), a US Department of Energy (DOE) program led by Idaho National Laboratory (INL), is supporting Radiant’s regulatory engagement activities with the NRC and the DOE. In June 2024, the DOE announced that it had approved the Kaleidos safety design strategy, which is required before testing the Kaleidos SMR at the Demonstration Of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) facility at INL.
Idaho Mining Company MOU
Radiant has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the mining company Idaho Strategic Resources to jointly study the suitability and licensing process to deploy a Kaleidos SMR at a site owned by Idaho Strategic Resources.
On its website the mining company indicates its focus is on rare earths, thorium and gold. All of the mining firm’s sites are in the region around Lemhi Pass, a remote region in northeastern Idaho near the Montana border.
The pass itself is an unpaved road at an elevation of 7,400 feet. Tendoy, ID, is an nearby unincorporated area at an elevation of 4,800 ft in Lemhi County accessible via Idaho state highway 28 about 20 miles southeast of Salmon, ID. (map)
One Size Does Not Fit All
Based on the dimensions posted on Radiant’s website, transportating the large 70 ton reactor, that is 11 ft high and 11 ft wide, in a single shipment is going to require some unique solutions.
A standard shipping container used globally in international commerce has measurements that do not exceed 40 feet long, 8’6″ high, and 8.0′ wide. A so-called ‘high cube’ is 9’6″ in height. The Radiant reactor shipment dimensions are three feet higher and three feet wider and weighs about 40 tons more than the capacity of a standard truck shipping container.
The maximum gross weight for a standard 40ft international shipping container is 67,200 lbs. With an empty weight of 8,300 lbs, a 40ft container can accommodate up to 58,900 lbs of cargo or just under 30 tons.
The maximum values for a domestic US standard shipping container, delivered as part of an 18-wheeler truck, are about 10,500 pounds empty with a cargo capacity of 65,000 pounds. or about 33 tons.
These numbers could present challenges for the location of the Radiant Nuclear factory and maintenance facilities near Casper, WY. Currently, local roads and bridges in Casper, WY, have a weight limit of 72,000 pounds for a five axle truck or half of the weight of a Radiant reactor shipment which is 70 tons (140,000 pounds).
For travel on I-25, which serves Casper, WY, with connections to Cheyenne, WY, and Denver, CO, the U.S. Department of Transportation federal highway weight limit is 80,000 pounds (40 tons) for a 5-axle truck which is 30 tons less than the weight of the Radiant microreactor.
Could Railroads Provide a Shipping Solution?
Casper, WY, is served by the BSNF, a Class 1 railroad which is only one of seven railroad companies in the US with this level of service. The railroad might be a an option for transporting the radiant reactor to and from the Wyoming facility.
A BSNF flatbed railcar can carry up to 233,000 pounds or 116 tons which is 46 tons more than the weight of the Radiant shipment. However, the width limit for a shipment on a BNSF flatbed rail car, which has to fit through mountain tunnels and bridges, is 10’6″ which is an unforgiving 4 inches too short for the Radiant reactor.
BSNF ships large packages all the time such as Boeing jet airliner fuelages. As shown in the image below, the Boeing aircraft fuselages fit within the railroad’s maximum cargo size dimensions with inches to spare. See image below.
A dialog by Radiant with the railroad might yield useful results in terms of how it plans to ship its microreactors to customers from the Wyoming factory and to support the 5-year refueling cycle at the planned Wyoming maintenance facility.
Given the weight and size limits of available rail transportation infrastructure, Radiant’s potential design options may be to either change the configuration of a single load to fit within rail car limits or ship the reactor in rail car in compliant sized pieces to be assembled on site or disassembled to be returned to the Wyoming site for refueling and maintenance.
Radiant Funding
Radiant raised $60 million in venture funding including $40 million in Series B fundraising in April 2023 which it plans to use to test the Kaleidos microreactor at the DOME facility and to support siting for a factory that would eventually produce up to 50 microreactors per year.
A Series C funding round was led by California-based venture capital firm DCVC Management, and also included London, UK-based investment firm Giant Ventures Global and US investment company StepStone Group. The El Segundo, California-based company said it now has raised $225 million to develop its 1-MW Kaleidos microreactor system.
Radiant also received two awards from the NRIC program: up to $1.5 million for front-end engineering and experiment design (FEEED) in 2023; and up to $5 million for detailed engineering and experiment planning (DEEP) in 2024.
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Radiant Chosen for Testing at INL DOME Facility
The U.S. Department of Energy this week made conditional selections for Radiant and Westinghouse to perform the first tests in the Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) facility at Idaho National Laboratory. The DOME experiments will be the first of their kind in the world and will fast-track the deployment of American microreactor technologies. The first fueled reactor experiment will start as early as spring 2026.
“Microreactors will play a big role in expanding the use of nuclear power in the United States,” said Mike Goff, the Acting Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy.
DOME will be the first microreactor test bed in the world and leverages existing infrastructure at Idaho National Laboratory to safely house and test fueled reactor experiments that produce up to 20 MW of thermal energy. Data collected from the experiments will be used to commercialize each reactor technology.
Radiant will test the Kaleidos Development Unit to advance the company’s commercial 1.2 MWe high-temperature gas reactor (HTGR) design as a potential replacement for diesel generators. Kaleidos is designed to operate for five years before refueling and could provide reliable backup power to large facilities like military bases, hospitals, remote industrial sites including mines, and other large users that need 24×7 365 reliable power.
Westinghouse to Test eVinci Microreactor at DOME
DOE selected Westinghouse to test the eVinci Nuclear Test Reactor to inform the development of its commercial transportable microreactor that uses advanced heat pipe technology to passively cool the reactor. The eVinci reactor is designed to produce 5 MWe of electricity on sites as small as two acres of land and could be used to power various applications from remote communities to mining operations or data centers.
Scope of the DOME Test Work for Microreactors
The two reactor developers were competitively selected in 2023 to perform initial activities for potential testing in DOME. Both companies are currently working through the multi-phase DOE authorization process to support the design, fabrication, construction, and testing of each fueled reactor experiment.
The Department estimates each DOME reactor experiment will operate up to six months. The testing campaigns are self-funded by the applicants with the sequencing of experiments based on several criteria, including technology readiness, fuel availability, and a regulatory approval plan. Both companies are expected to meet certain milestones throughout the process to maintain their allotted time in DOME and to ensure efficient use of the test bed.
The DOME test bed is currently under construction and on track to receive its first experiment in early 2026. The facility is operated by DOE’s National Reactor Innovation Center, which enables access to the world-class capabilities across the Department’s national laboratories to accelerate the development of advanced reactor technologies.
DOE recently closed its first round of applications for scheduling experiments in DOME. The next call for applications is anticipated to be in the summer of 2026.
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Radiant to Manufacture Its Microreactor in Wyoming
(Cowboy State Daily) Microreactor manufacturer Radiant has signed a deal to mass-produce portable microreactors to power U.S. Air Force bases. The company wants to make them in the tiny town of Bar Nunn, WY, located 10 miles north of Casper. WY, in Natrona County, WY. (map) Radiant hopes the military contract adds momentum to its efforts to establish a manufacturing presence in Wyoming.
Radiant executives told a town meeting earlier this year that Wyoming’s workforce, strong career and technical education programs and spot as the nation’s largest uranium producer were factors in choosing Bar Nunn. The plan, which supporters see as a “generational opportunity,” promises to bring high-paying jobs, help Wyoming’s economy rely less on fossil fuels and keep skilled young people from moving away. The project also fits with federal goals to speed up nuclear reactor development.
The proposed facility would span approximately 350,000 square feet and create an estimated 75 jobs initially, with the potential to grow to 250 jobs as production scales up.
Factory operations will include;
New reactors assembled, fueled, and tested, and shipped to customers.
Reactors shipped back to factory for maintenance and refueling. Five year cycle.
Spent fuel securely stored above ground in concrete casks pending a permanent federal government solution.
Conceptual Image of a Radiant Maintenance Facility. Image: Radiant
Radiant has proposed that when its microreactors need refueling, the units, with the spent fuel, will be shipped back to its manufacturing facility. That’s raised concerns in Natrona County. An interim committee with the Wyoming Legislature is considering legislation to allow the storage of nuclear waste. (Infographic Radiant presentation to the Wyoming Legislature )
The Legislature’s Joint Minerals, Business & Economic Development Committee plans to meet again to discuss proposed legislation. It tabled a draft bill during a hearing July 30th held in Casper, and the committee has not yet scheduled a follow up meeting.
The draft authorizes, “the siting of temporary high-level radioactive waste storage facilities and installations within this state.”
The Cowboy State Daily newspaper reports that the powerful Wyoming Freedom Caucus, now the majority in the state legislature, has publicly stated an anti-nuclear waste position. This opposition could make it difficult for Radiant supporters in the legislature to change the law.
The Radiant site isn’t the only nuclear reactor planned to be built in Wyoming, TerraPower has broken ground for non-nuclear site preparation in Kemmerer, WY, a coal town located in the far southwestern corner of the state. There TerraPower plans to build a 345 MWe sodium cooled advanced reactor to replace a coal fired power plant.
It seems likely that with the TerraPower project underway and Radiant poised to launch its manufacturing center in Wyoming that the state legislature will have to come to grips with the facts about safety related to these reactors and dismiss knee-jerk politics by a faction more interested in political influence than in economic and energy related progress. The state has long been a center of uranium mining and is no newcomer to the world of nuclear fuel and it uses.
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General Matter Gets DOE Lease at Paducah for Uranium Enrichment
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the signing of a lease with General Matter for the reuse of a 100-acre parcel of federal land at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant for a new private-sector domestic uranium enrichment facility.
General Matter is one of four companies DOE selected in October 2024 to provide enrichment services for the establishment of a U.S. supply of high-assay low-enriched uranium. Building domestic supply chains is critical to the reshoring and domestic expansion of energy for advanced manufacturing and artificial intelligence data centers.
The lease provides General Matter with a minimum of 7,600 cylinders of existing uranium hexafluoride (UF6) to supply fuel for future re-enrichment operations. Reprocessing of uranium hexafluoride saves the American taxpayer about $800 million in avoided disposal costs.
The cylinders, some of which have been in storage for decades, have been a disposal headache for DOE. Given the demand for enriched uranium at HALEU levels, re-enriching the tails is a commercial way out of a dead end for the agency. The Paduicah plant ceased operations in 2013.
As of 2024 DOE had about 440,000 metric tonnes of UF6 stored at Paducah. The standard size of the cylinders contains about 13-14 metric tonnes of UF6 which means the 2024 inventory is about 34,000 cylinders. Some of the cylinders are larger so this is a rough estimate. General Matter’s contract to process 7,600 of them would eliminate about 25% of the inventory.
General Matter will benefit from a consistent supply of U.S.-origin uranium hexafluoride feed suitable for re-enrichment. Re-enrichment of uranium tails can take place using one of two processes – gas centrifuge or laser based enrichment.
Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Energy and Power, Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives June 13, 2011 GAO-11-752T. Statement of Gene Aloise, Director Natural Resources and Environment.
The gaseous diffusion process is consider to be too expensive due to its enormous use of electricity compared to other methods. According to the World Nuclear Association, the gaseous diffusion process consumes about 2500 kWh (9000 MJ) per SWU, while modern gas centrifuge plants require only about 50 kWh (180 MJ) per SWU.
Enrichment accounts for almost half of the cost of nuclear fuel and about 5% of the total cost of the electricity generated. At its end of life USEC reported the gaseous diffusion plant consumed a peak electrical demand of 3,040 megawatts of power.
The American Nuclear Society Newswire notes that from 1952 to 2013, the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant enriched uranium was the last government-owned uranium enrichment facility operating in the United States. The plant produced LEU originally as feedstock for nuclear weapons materials and later for commercial nuclear power plants.
The DOE has been actively cleaning up the Paducah site since 1988 with the intention of making it available for reuse for industrial redevelopment. Subject to licensing by the NRC, General Matter’s construction is expected to begin in 2026 with uranium enrichment operations planned to begin by the end of the decade.
World Nuclear News reported General Matter was one of four companies selected in October 2024 by the US Department of Energy to provide enrichment services to help establish a US supply of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU). So far neither DOE nor General Matter have provided an estimate of how much HALEU will be produced by the contract. In October 2024, in response to an inquiry from the ANS Nuclear Newswire, General Matter declined to provide detailed information about its contract or the scope of its deliverables in terms of HALEU fuel produced from re-enrichment of the UF6 tails.
The company had been registered in California since January 2025, with Scott Nolan named as its CEO. Nolan, a former SpaceX employee, is a partner at venture capital firm Founders Fund which was co-founded by billionaire investor Peter Thiel. While Nolan has extensive experince with multiple high tech firms, he has no experience in the nuclear energy nor the uranium enrichment industries.
The co-founder of the firm is Lee Robinson who worked for the Defense Innovation Unit for about five years. Robinson’s expertise is in banking and finance. In a separate unrelated action this month, that agency entered into an agreement with Radiant Nuclear to deliver its HTGR microreactor to a USAF base.
NRC Regulatory Engagement Plan Pending
Last December General Matter submitted a Letter of Intent (ML24365A102) to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in anticipation of a “forthcoming application for the necessary licenses to support the production and handling of High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU).”
The letter is signed by Ashby Bridges, VP of Facilities at General Matter. His prior work includes extensive experience in technical management of nuclear criticality operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory, URENCO, and Westinghouse, among others.
About six months ago, while still in so-called “stealth mode,” General Matter posted a recruitment notice on Linkedin for nuclear engineers with uranium criticality experience.
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NRC Accepts GLE Application to License Its Laser Enrichment Plant
Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) announced that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has completed its acceptance review of GLE’s license application for the planned Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility (PLEF). The NRC’s acceptance confirms that the application is sufficiently complete to proceed to formal review marking a major step forward in GLE’s mission to deploy new U.S.-based depleted uranium tails re-enrichment and low enriched uranium production capacity. This plant is distinct from the one planned by General Matter which is expected when built to produce HALEU levels of enriched uranium (10-19% U235).
GLE said the PLEF is expected “to play a pivotal role in rebuilding and strengthening the domestic supply chain for uranium, conversion, and enrichment services. By re-enriching the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Paducah inventory of depleted uranium tails.”
Support cleanup activities from DOE legacy activities,
Reduce dependence on foreign fuel sources from state-owned entities, and
Lead efforts to re-establish Paducah’s historic role in the U.S. nuclear energy ecosystem.
GLE said in its press statement it remains on track to begin re-enriching the DOE’s Paducah inventory of depleted uranium tails no later than 2030.
Uranium can be enriched by separating isotopes of uranium with lasers. Molecules can be excited by laser light; this is called photoexcitation. Lasers can increase the energy in the electrons of a gaseous form of a specific isotope, changing its properties and allowing lighter U235 to be separated from the heavier U238.
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Lightbridge Nuclear Fuel Ready for Irradiation Tests at INL
Lightbridge Corporation (Nasdaq: LTBR), a leader in advanced nuclear fuel technology, today announced the successful fabrication of coupon samples using enriched uranium-zirconium alloy, a critical step in the development of its next-generation Lightbridge Fuel product. The samples are representative of the fuel material alloy composition Lightbridge plans to use in the commercial fuel product designed to improve the performance and safety of nuclear reactors worldwide.
Key highlights of this achievement include:
Successful Extrusion of Enriched Uranium-Zirconium Alloy Samples: Lightbridge has successfully extruded enriched uranium-zirconium alloy samples that match the fuel material alloy composition intended for its future commercial Lightbridge Fuel product. (photos)
Utilization of Proven Fabrication Process: The extrusion process was performed using Lightbridge’s proprietary fabrication method, previously demonstrated at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), to extrude and co-extrude depleted uranium samples with zirconium-alloy cladding. This proven technology is now applied to the enriched alloy for further development.
Collaboration with INL for Irradiation Testing: The enriched coupon samples will be placed into capsules and undergo irradiation testing at INL’s Advanced Test Reactor (ATR). This work is conducted as part of an existing Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between Lightbridge and the Idaho National Laboratory.
Irradiation Testing to Support Regulatory Efforts: The planned irradiation testing program, along with post-irradiation examination activities (the scope of which will be detailed in a future Project Task Statement), is aimed at generating critical irradiation performance data for Lightbridge’s advanced fuel. This data will play a key role in supporting the company’s regulatory licensing and commercialization efforts for deployment of Lightbridge Fuel.
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Saudi Arabia Re-ignites Quest for US Support for its Commercial Nuclear Reactor Program
A trade newsletter on energy issues, “Tactical Report” has an unverified report that Saudi Arabia is once again playing the “China card” in its negotiations with the US over enrichment and nuclear energy issues. The full text is behind a very expensive firewall so all I have is a brief summary.
As far back as 2019 Saudi Arabia said if it could not get an acceptable deal, that includes uranium enrichment, it would turn to China for nuclear reactors.
The latest bulletin from Tactical Report (firewall) includes a few new data points. It indicates that Saudi Arabi’s ruler Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (MBS) will seek reactors from South Korea in addition to considering a bid from China.
This quest is problematic for South Korea given its relations with the US. Specifically, South Korea is prohibited via its 123 Agreement with the US from exporting its commercial light water reactors to any country that does not also have a 123 Agreement with the US.
Saudi Arabia does not have one and has consistently resisted progress towards a completing 123 agreement with the US due to Saudi demands for the right to enrichment. The US has maintained that Saudi Arabia can get the nuclear fuel its needs for commercial reactors without having an enrichment facility. Nonproliferation experts have pointed out the Saudi enrichment plant could lead to a nuclear weapons program and that hypothetically various methods of oversight and control could be bypassed which is what happened with North Korea.
Separately, an earlier report in April “Tactical Report” indicated that MBS was also interested in fusion energy, which does not require uranium enrichment. However, the timeline for commercialization of fusion is likely in the early 2040s according to the UK Atomic Energy Agency which is investing in fusion full tilt at Culham in the UK to shorten that timeline.
Why Raise the Issue Now?
The fact that Saudi impatience with US negotiations over support for its nuclear program has apparently re-surfaced may be related to the dire circumstances in Gaza foreclosing any rapprochement with Israel thus removing it from consideration in US / Saudi relations. By taking diplomatic relations with Israel off the table, Saudi Arabia can now pursue a bilateral nuclear deal with the US without any baggage from its prior proposals for a three-part deal.
However, given the short attention span of the Trump administration, embroiled in multiple controversies like the Epstein files, tariffs, and whatever other domestic distractions consume the White House, getting its concerted focus on Saudi Arabia’s nuclear demands may be a stretch.
Trump has promoted nuclear energy in the US with four executive orders intended to brighten the nuclear energy industry’s domestic prospects, and maybe add export opportunities.
However, the Trump administration recently stumbled badly in its efforts to control the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by firing its chairman, setting off a storm of controversy. Last weekend, in an apparent effort to repair the damage, the White House nominated a replacement who is well qualified for the job. Taken together this is a case of singed fingers quickly removed from contact with hot surfaces.
As the NRC is part of the government involved in reviewing and approving 123 Agreements, it is difficult to see a fast path for the US to grant Saudi Arabia permission in a 123 Agreement to pursue enrichment. The outlook for now appears to be a continued stalemate on the issue.
Saudi Arabia’s claims to play the China card is a thin boast given the impact it would have on US relations, especially in terms of military arms deals and deterrence against Iran, and the degree of control it would give China over Saudi long term energy security. Why MBS is pushing the issue now remains a bit of a mystery.
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