Kingdom looking for partners to fund nuclear project

AMMAN — Search is ongoing for resources to fund the first nuclear energy plant in the Kingdom, Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) Chairman Khaled Toukan said Tuesday. 

He told participants in the Jordan International Energy Summit, which concluded Tuesday, that negotiations are ongoing with several companies to enter as third parties in the project from the Czech Republic, China and Japan “to secure the best offer”, while Jordan will keep the largest stake in the project, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

JAEC chairman outlined progress in the Jordanian nuclear programme, noting that the project is vital to ensure diversity in the energy mix in the Kingdom, which has been dependent on imported fuel.

He said the project includes a research reactor at the Jordan University of Science and Technology with a capacity of 5megawatts. The facility has been used since the end of April under trial as a training centre for human resources to manage and operate the Jordanian nuclear energy station. 

Toukan added that the project also includes uranium mining in the Kingdom to supply the station with fuel as well as for export purposes. He said several Arab countries have shown interest in partnering with Jordan in the uranium mining project. 

JAEC is currently extracting uranium at experimental units established for the purpose of mining, supervised by a uranium mining company in preparation for commercial production, Toukan said.

Jordan chose Russian technology to build its first nuclear energy station comprised of two reactors that cost around $10 billion, one of which is expected to operate in 2023, Petra reported.