Saudi Arabia signed an agreement Monday with Hungary to cooperate in the use of atomic energy, in a latest pact of its kind signed by the Kingdom, which earlier this year reached similar agreements with Russia and South Korea.

The deal with Hungary includes cooperation in reactor design, construction and operation, security, waste management and training, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.

Hashim bin Abdullah Yamani, president of the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (K.A.CARE), signed the latest deal with Hungary’s Minister of National Development Miklَs Sesztk.

The agency quoted Yamani as saying that the agreement with Hungary will help the kingdom to establish atomic and renewable energy in a sustainable way to help preserve depleting hydrocarbon resources.

Hungary signed a deal last year with Russia’s Rosatom to expand its sole nuclear plant, Paks, with two power blocks of 1,200 megawatts financed with a 10-billion-euro ($11-billion) loan from Moscow.

Saudi Arabia is entirely dependent on oil and gas for its electricity production, and according to SPA its energy demand is growing between six and eight percent annually.

Saudi Arabia is pursuing its own nuclear projects while it dares to worry about the nuclear drive of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

AFP