Jordan committed to WMD-free region, nuclear disarmament — Toukan

AMMAN — Jordan is committed to multilateral nuclear-weapon disarmament in the Middle East and to creating a region free of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) Chairman Khaled Toukan said on Tuesday. 

During the 63rd Annual Regular Session of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) General Conference in Vienna, Toukan underlined Jordan’s commitment to combatting the spread of nuclear weapons and ensuring that nuclear energy is utilised strictly for peaceful purposes, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra. 

During the conference, Toukan briefed attendees on the progress of Jordan’s nuclear energy programme, which includes establishing the Jordan Nuclear Power Plant and the Jordan Research and Training Nuclear Reactor. 

The agency’s chairman also pointed to the Kingdom’s Uranium mining project and efforts to develop human resources in the field. 

Toukan expressed Jordan’s dedication to the guarantees system as a vital part of international efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons and limit the use of nuclear energy to peaceful purposes.

The participating Jordanian delegation held a number of meetings with Arab and foreign partakers over means of cooperation on peaceful uses of nuclear energy, as well as meetings with high-ranking officials from the IAEA.  

Talks during these meetings addressed developments to the Jordanian nuclear programme and matters of technical cooperation with the IAEA. 

On the sidelines of the conference, the JAEC organised a roundtable discussion that tackled the Synchrotron-Light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East, during which a number of scientists from Europe, Africa and southeast Asia gave presentations on the role of synchrotron light in development and science.