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Al Uyaynah - Uranium Conversion Plant Suspect Site

U.S. intelligence agencies reportedly spotted what appears to be an undeclared nuclear site near Saudi Arabia’s capital city of Riyadh, scrutinizing attempts by the kingdom to process uranium and move toward the development of atomic bombs. The New York Times reported that the agencies had in recent weeks circulated a classified analysis about Saudi attempts to build up its ability to produce nuclear fuel that could potentially lead to the development of nuclear weapons.

The study showed "a newly completed structure near a solar-panel production area near Riyadh, the Saudi capital, that some government analysts and outside experts suspect could be one of a number of undeclared nuclear sites,” the report said. The site is situated in a secluded desert area not too far from the Saudi town of al-Uyaynah, located 30 kilometers Northwest of Riyadh, and its Solar Village.

"The analysis has raised alarms that there might be secret Saudi-Chinese efforts to process raw uranium into a form that could later be enriched into weapons fuel, according to American officials,” the report added. Earlier, an article in The Wall Street Journal said that Western officials were concerned about a desert site in Northwestern Saudi Arabia just south of the town of al-Ula. The facility, which had not been publicly acknowledged, has raised concern that the kingdom’s nascent nuclear program is moving ahead, and Riyadh is keeping open an option to develop nuclear weapons, according to the report.

Al-Uyaynah includes many mud houses built from clay, timber and palm groves, but over time these buildings seemed to disappear and little remained. The town then modernized with the construction of cement and iron buildings, asphalting of streets, and the implementation of other services such as electricity, telephone lines, schools, street paving, and public parks.

Local residents are engaged mainly in trade, government work and agriculture. The latter is the main source of income for the Al-Uyaynah, which is a first-class agricultural region with more than 200 farms and over 40,000 palm trees. A plantation project has been established to plant 25,000 trees and create a man-made forest.

Al-Uyaynah is home to many important facilities. King Abdulaziz Military College, the first college established in the Kingdom and which acts as a prestigious military scientific institution that educates and trains students so they are qualified to serve as officers in the ground forces.

The solar village, established in 1980 to provide electricity with a capacity of 350 kilowatts to villages around Riyadh. It was then developed to act as the first experimental research station to implement solar energy projects at local and regional levels. This village represents the first successful attempt of Saudi-American technical cooperation in the field of solar energy in remote areas.

In 1979, the same year that unrest in the Middle East sparked a global oil shock and President Jimmy Carter had solar panels installed on the White House roof, the United States and Saudi Arabia jointly launched a solar-research station about 30 miles northwest of Riyadh, in a tiny village called Al-Uyaynah, which at the time lacked electricity. Work at this site languished in the 1990s and early 2000s but then picked up. In 2010, the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, the research agency that runs the station, built a small experimental assembly line there to manufacture solar panels.

Al-Uyaynah, a village in central Saudi Arabia located 30 kilometers northwest of the Saudi capital Riyadh and covering around 4,930 hectares. The history of this region dates back to pre-Islamic times and it became famous for being the site of the apostasy wars after the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) death. Throughout history it has witnessed important events and became a political, military and economic power. Al-Uyaynah was the birthplace of Muhammad ibn Abd Al-Wahhab, whose followers are known as the Wahhabis.

Al-Uyaynah is one of the largest and most famous areas in the Najd region and is known for its historical and cultural sites such as the Al-Uyaynah Ain water sources used by the local farms and the rocky roads that facilitated movement between the plains and the mountains and were expanded during the reign of King Abdulaziz. There is also Thanyat Al-Ahisi, a famous historical site where the army of the great companion Khalid bin Al-Walid passed through in 11 AD. Among the landmarks of this city are the old agricultural dams, the ancient wall and its high towers, as well as old mosques whose remnants were removed and rebuilt in a modern style. Visitors should also consider Bin Muammar Palace, which was built 600 years ago and fortified with a huge wall over two meters thick and restored by Prince Sultan bin Salman when he was Chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage.