In the years immediately following the 1978/9 Iranian Revolution, Saudi Arabia began planning for an energy research facility at King ʿAbd al-ʿAziz University (KAU) that included nuclear energy research. The Saudis asked the United Kingdom’s Harwell Atomic Energy Research Establisment (A.E.R.E) to consult on the project. The goal of the “Energy Research Center” project, in the words of Harwell’s Dr. A.E. Taylor, was “to transfer a culture of science to Saudi Arabia.” Taylor added that “the twin pillars of knowledge on materials and energy sources are judged essential for a developed technologically based society.” One of the Saudi goals was to select and train approximately 1,000 scientists, engineers, and technicians over a period of ten to fifteen years in order to avoid a “brain drain” of Islamic scientists. The Saudis also wanted to contract with Western suppliers to obtain a heavy ion accelerator, atomic fission and fusion facilities, and a synchrotron. Mohammed Al Faisal, the son of the late King Faisal, was the senior Saudi prince responsible for the project, and Dr. Fawaz al-Alamy was to be the chairman of the new research center. This paper, based on primary source archival research, will describe the origins of Saudi nuclear research facilities and the role of Western governments and companies in planning and building them. More broadly, the paper will examine the social and political context for the Saudi decision to build a nuclear energy research program, during the decade after the Iranian revolution and before Saudi Arabia signed the Treaty of Nuclear Non-Proliferation (NPT) in 1988.