A civilian nuclear power agreement, meaning one covering reactor programs built to generate electricity rather than weapons-grade material, requires congressional review under U.S. law before it can take effect. The United States signed such an agreement with Saudi Arabia. The law that requires that review is the Atomic Energy Act.
What the Atomic Energy Act requires
The Atomic Energy Act governs how the United States cooperates with foreign countries on nuclear matters. When the U.S. government signs an arrangement with a foreign country on civilian nuclear power, that arrangement must go through a formal review by Congress. The statute makes that review a required step, not a discretionary one.
The use of "civilian" in the agreement's description is doing real work. It signals that the deal covers electricity-generating reactor programs, a category the Atomic Energy Act treats differently from other nuclear cooperation precisely because Congress inserted itself into the approval chain for it.
Signed versus approved
What exists now is a signed agreement between the United States and Saudi Arabia. What the Atomic Energy Act establishes is that a signed deal and an authorized deal are not the same thing. Congressional review sits between them.
A signature records what two governments intend. The review the Atomic Energy Act requires determines whether that intention is permitted to move forward. Saudi Arabia sought U.S. cooperation on civilian nuclear power. The United States signed the agreement. The Atomic Energy Act review is what comes next.