In October 2017, Nuclear Engineering International reported that Russian state corporation Rosatom had agreed a cooperation programme with the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy in Saudi Arabia. According to Rosatom, it covered small and medium-sized reactors to generate electricity and produce water by desalination, plus training of specialists. Both sides also planned to assess a nuclear science centre built around a Russian research reactor. The deal was signed in Moscow on 5 October, while King Salman was visiting, under an intergovernmental agreement dating from June 2015.
The report showed that Saudi Arabia explicitly included desalination in its 2017 plans for small and medium-sized reactors. It named no sites, capacities or costs.
Source: Nuclear Engineering International (Kopie im Webarchiv)