The Trump administration signed a 30-year civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia, commonly known as a “123 agreement,” that opens the door for the kingdom to eventually pursue uranium enrichment on its own soil. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman put pen to paper on the deal, which President Trump had formally approved the week prior.

What the deal actually says

A 123 agreement, named after Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act, is the legal framework required before any country can receive American nuclear technology, materials, or expertise. Historically, that checklist included a hard requirement: no domestic enrichment of uranium.

This deal drops that requirement. Instead, it introduces a joint US-Saudi feasibility study on enrichment, essentially kicking the can down the road while leaving the door wide open.

The pact is projected to funnel billions of dollars into US nuclear companies. Westinghouse stands to be an early and major beneficiary.

The 30-year timeline means this agreement will outlast multiple administrations.

Why nonproliferation hawks are sounding alarms

Nonproliferation experts have been vocal about the risks. If Saudi Arabia gets a pathway to enrichment, other regional players will want the same. Iran is already deep into enrichment programs that have kept the International Atomic Energy Agency busy for years.

Israel, which maintains an undeclared nuclear arsenal and has historically worked to prevent any regional competitor from approaching nuclear capability, has reportedly expressed unease.

The counterargument from the administration is pragmatic. If the US doesn’t sell Saudi Arabia nuclear technology, Russia or China will, and without any of the safety conditions or oversight mechanisms that American agreements traditionally include. Russia’s Rosatom has been aggressively courting Middle Eastern and African nations with reactor deals that come with far fewer strings attached.

The energy angle crypto investors should watch

Nuclear energy has become one of the most important narratives in crypto’s infrastructure story. Bitcoin mining operations have increasingly explored nuclear power as a baseload energy source, and AI data centers are racing to secure nuclear capacity. Microsoft, Amazon, and Google have all made moves toward nuclear-powered computing in the past two years.

For Bitcoin miners, energy cost is the single most important variable in profitability. Any macroeconomic shift that alters global energy supply curves matters.

Publicly traded uranium miners and nuclear fuel companies have already seen renewed investor interest as the global nuclear renaissance picks up speed. Billions flowing into Westinghouse and the broader US nuclear supply chain means more capital chasing a sector that was considered nearly dead a decade ago.

Investors watching the intersection of energy policy and digital assets should track three things: the timeline of the US-Saudi enrichment feasibility study, any retaliatory nuclear moves from Iran or other regional actors, and the flow of federal contracts to US nuclear firms whose infrastructure buildout could eventually serve both traditional and crypto-adjacent computing demand.