(MENAFN- Jordan News Agency) Deputy Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Alexander Bychkov has said Jordan was the first country to invite the IAEA for an Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) in 2009.
Bychkov, who is also the Head of the Department of Nuclear Energy, in an interview with Jordan News Agency "Petra," on the sidelines of his visit to the Kingdom, said this mission is based on our "Milestones" approach, which outlines a country's infrastructure, built-up in three phases.
He added that in August 2014, Jordan invited the INIR mission again, as it progressed towards Phase 2 in its preparation. The recommendations made by the INIR team included finalizing national policies and government commitment, improving coordination between the various ministries, strengthening the legislative framework, and finalizing pre-investment activities.
Answering a question about the steps that will be taken by the IAEA to ensure the safety and security of the Jordanian nuclear power programme, Bychkov said that "the IAEA does not ensure safety and security. These are exclusively under the jurisdiction of the Member States and are handled both by the government, operators and national regulators." He explained that the Agency does issue standards, guidelines, guidance, and merely facilitates information and experience sharing. In addition, and based on the country's request, the IAEA provides peer review services where a team of international experts and the IAEA staff would review the level of preparation of the country against a set of conditions provided in the IAEA guidance. He further added "the IAEA has dedicated review services in the area of safety and security, and the INIR mission that provides an integrated review of all infrastructure needed for introducing nuclear power." He pointed out that Jordan, in addition to the INIR mission, has hosted a review service dedicated to the regulatory framework for nuclear safety, as well as a mission dedicated to emergency preparedness.
On future cooperation between Jordan and IAEA in terms of science and technology, the official envoy said, "In addition to the nuclear power infrastructure building assistance mentioned above, Jordan has also joined the IAEA's International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles (INPRO) in 2011." He further added that "the INPRO looks at future technological advances and energy scenarios and is aimed at helping Member States choose the best nuclear energy system to meet their future energy demands." Jordan is also involved in various research and development activities related to agriculture, health, hydrology, industry and environment. Currently, there are 11 national IAEA technical cooperation projects, and Jordan is an active participating member in 59 regional and two inter-regional projects. Through these activities, Jordan is gaining knowledge and technology to contribute science based (nuclear technology) solutions for socio-economic development in the country, he noted.
The IAEA Deputy Director General reviewed the King Hussein Cancer Centre (KHCC) experiment, which cooperates with the Agency in a project for enhancing Radiation Oncology capacity, highlighting that focus is now on the Al-Bashir hospital to improve the radiation therapy facilities and other quality related issues in the only public sector hospital of the Ministry of Health.
He said that the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) is applying stable isotopes techniques to understand the recharge and mixing of sweet water with saline water in the area of hydrology. This information will be useful in mapping aquifers in the country.
The official also highlighted the other fields of cooperation, saying that Jordan is actively participating in improving breeds of small ruminants (goats and sheep) under the IAEA-ARASIA project. In food security, Jordan is also involved in breeding wheat varieties which will be able to withstand the emerging threat of Ug99, a devastating fungal disease.
About the IAEA special procedures to deal with newcomers in the nuclear field, Bychkov said, "Yes, to meet the increasing demand from Member States, the Agency has established a dedicated Section to assist the so-called newcomers. Again, the idea is to help them make a knowledgeable decision on whether or not to go forward with adding nuclear power in their energy mix. Once they decide to do so, the Agency helps them in establishing the necessary infrastructures for safe, secure, responsible and sustainable nuclear power generation. The Milestones approach focuses on 19 topics that these countries would need to pay attention to." Responding to those asking for shutting down all nuclear power plants and replace them with renewable, he confirmed that any decision to introduce or to expand nuclear energy in the national energy portfolio as well as or to phase out from it, rests with sovereign States, saying that the Agency helps Member States to make informed decisions but does not comment on the country's individual policies, for example the agency energy planning tools that look into a country's future energy demand and supply are used by over 120 Member States. When we take into account that currently there are only 30 countries using nuclear power and about the same number of those interested in adding nuclear power in their energy mix, the usefulness of the Agency's tools comes out clear.
He noted that the nuclear power provided 11 percent of global electricity production in 2013 and according to the IAEA projections for 2030, nuclear energy would remain an important, stable, base load electricity supply.
Bychkov handed over on Tuesday to the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Mohammad Hamid, the final report of the mission, that was prepared by IAEA experts last August.
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