Russia and Jordan sign nuclear reactor deal
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By Staff Writers, teleSUR
teleSUR
Wednesday, Mar 25, 2015
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| Khalid Toukan (R) chairman of the Jordanian Atomic Energy Commission and Sergei Kiriyenko, of the Russian Rosatom. | Photo: AFP
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The Jordan government announced Tuesday it has reached a US$10 billion deal with Russia to build its first nuclear power plant.
The deal signed in the Jordanian capital Amman, with the Russian state-owned Rosatom, aims at reducing energy imports, which account for 96 percent of the energy it consumes.
“Nuclear power is definitely one of the solutions to graduate from total dependency on oil and gas … I am optimistic that the raw materials, the yellow cake, will come from Jordan,” explained Khalid Toukan, head of the Jordanian Atomic Energy Commission.
Jordan has 65,000 tons of uranium under its soil, which is enough to cover Jordan's needs for energy for 90 years. The country aims to export it by 2020, and has began several mining projects.
The deal signed with Russia consists of establishing a joint company, with the Jordanian government having a slight majority ownership and Rosatom keeping 49 percent of the plant.
"The nuclear power plant is the embodiment of a strategic partnership," explained Rosatom executive Sergey Kiriyenko, according to Reuters news agency. The agreement also implies the fuel for the plant will be bought to the Russian company throughout the first 10 years.
"As you know, we lost the oil from Iraq, natural gas from Egypt, and the country has been bleeding and losing on an average US$3 billion every year," explained Toukan.
The power plant is expected to be finished by the year 2022, and will be built in Amra, in the north of the country.
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