UN atomic agency notes progress in national nuclear programme

AMMAN — The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Tuesday said Jordan is making notable progress in developing infrastructure for the country's nuclear programme, but more is needed as far as this part of the project is concerned.

The IAEA, which on Tuesday submitted the final report of Phase II of Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review Mission to Jordan, said there is a good understanding and good planning in this regard in Jordan.

"We see notable progress made by Jordan in different areas," said Alexander Bychkov, deputy director general and head of the Department of Nuclear Energy at IAEA, on Tuesday at an event to deliver the report to the government.

The document, which seeks to identify good practices and to help Jordan develop necessary infrastructure for successful implementation of the nuclear programme, included 44 recommendations, highlighted three good practices and made three suggestions.

The report said the government should finalise strategies and policies for the nuclear programme and called for effective coordination among all stakeholders, which, it indicated, is key to the success of the programme.

The report recommended that a comprehensive nuclear law be enacted, adding that the law should have clear identification of roles and responsibilities. 

The agency also called for a policy on spent fuel and radioactive waste management and for developing a strategy on human resources development.

Kamal Araj, Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) vice chairman, stressed the importance of the nuclear programme in meeting the country's rising needs on electricity and placing Jordan in a position to export electricity, especially since there are plans to connect the grid to those of Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

Araj added that Jordan and Russia are expected to sign an inter-governmental agreement in January 2015, voicing the two countries’ support for the programme.

He added that the projected “Jordan Nuclear Power Company”, which the report called for creating, is expected to be established in early 2015.

Araj added that work is also under way to develop policies for human resources development and management of waste, and safety and security.

In October 2013, Jordan announced that it has selected Russia to build the country’s first two nuclear reactors in a bid to produce atomic energy within the next decade.

Russian state-owned firm Rosatom was picked as the preferred vendor to construct two 1,000-megawatt (MW) nuclear power plants east of Amman by 2022.

Khalid Toukan, chairman of JAEC, stressed the importance of the report, adding that Jordan highly values the mission’s feedback.

Jordan, he said, is ready for peer reviews and to learn from best practices to improve its nuclear energy programme despite the fiscal and political constraints engulfing the Middle East region.

In his remarks at the event, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Mohammad Hamed, who received the report, outlined the progress made and the proposals made by the agency, saying that the three recognised good practices included pre-investment activities with the strategic partner, employing graduate students as part of the outreach to Jordan’s youth population and establishing a localisation committee with wide participation from national industry.

The JAEC and the Energy and Mineral Resources Regulatory Commission, in cooperation with relevant stakeholders, are developing an action plan taking into account the recommendations, said the minister.

He added that the government established a higher ministerial committee for the nuclear power plant project to coordinate efforts among all stakeholders, which is one of the key recommendations that the IAEA report has called for.

Jordan has become the third Arab state to pursue peaceful nuclear energy, with the United Arab Emirates set to build four reactors with a combined 5,600MW capacity by 2020 and Egypt reaffirming in 2013 its plans to establish a 1,000MW reactor by the end of the decade.