Saudi Arabia could have some form of uranium enrichment within the kingdom under a proposed nuclear deal with the United States. That's according to congressional documents and an arms control group. Both U.S. Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden tried to reach a nuclear deal with the kingdom to share American technology. Nonproliferation experts warn any spinning centrifuges within Saudi Arabia could open the door to a possible weapons program for the kingdom. The kingdom's assertive crown prince has suggested he could pursue a nuclear weapon if Tehran obtains an atomic bomb.
San Jose is now ground zero in California's battle over how to govern the rise of data centers used to power artificial intelligence. The county seat of Santa Clara is touting its partnership with Pacific Gas & Electric, claiming the city is "the West Coast's premier destination for data center development." Panelists at a CalMatters event in downtown San Jose clashed over key issues. Their discussion centered on how quickly California should move to accommodate new demand, what information the public should be entitled to and how to keep customers from shouldering the cost of infrastructure that may never be fully used.
By SAM MEDNICK, JON GAMBRELL and DAVID RISING Associated Press
Israel and Iran have struck at one another again a week into their war as President Donald Trump weighs U.S. involvement and new diplomatic efforts appear to be taking place. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Geneva on Friday for meetings with diplomats from the European Union, United Kingdom, France and Germany. Trump has been weighing whether to attack Iran by striking a uranium enrichment facility so deeply buried it is considered safe from all but America's "bunker-buster" bombs.
By ILLIA NOVIKOV and EFREM LUKATSKY Associated Press
A drone armed with a warhead hit the protective outer shell of Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear plant. Friday's strike punched a hole in the shell and briefly started a fire. Kyiv blamed Russia, while the Kremlin denied it was responsible. The U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency said radiation levels at the shuttered plant in the Kyiv region have not increased. It said the strike did not breach the plant's inner containment shell. The IAEA did not attribute blame. Fighting around nuclear power plants has repeatedly raised fears of a nuclear catastrophe during three years of war. Chernobyl was the site of the world's worst nuclear accident in 1986.
By SAMYA KULLAB and HANNA ARHIROVA Associated Press
Despite more than a year of warnings that critical Ukrainian nuclear energy infrastructure sites are vulnerable to potential Russian attacks, Ukraine's Energy Ministry has failed to act swiftly to protect them, government officials have told The Associated Press. Only in the fall, after Ukrainian intelligence agencies warned of potential strikes targeting nuclear transmission facilities, was action taken to begin building protection, the officials said — far too late in the event of an attack. Russia's renewed attacks this winter have heightened scrutiny over these failures. Two years of punishing Russian strikes on its power grid have left Ukraine reliant on nuclear power for more than half of its electricity generation.
