EU offers to help develop Jordan's nuclear energy programme  

(MENAFN - Jordan Times) AMMAN — The European Union (EU) this week said it would help the Kingdom develop its nuclear energy programme by providing the necessary expertise for the formation of a legal framework, including the principles of energy crisis management.

Energy counsellor coordinator of the RELEX Energy Cell in the EU, Faouzi Bensarsa, said Jordan is qualified to pursue a nuclear programme.

"The EU is ready to help Jordan in this regard," he told The Jordan Times following a meeting with Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Khalid Touqan, on Wednesday.

The government has started talks on nuclear cooperation with various countries, including the US, Canada and members of the European Union.

According to Touqan, the government has reached an agreement with a Swedish company, which will assist efforts to establish a state-owned company to evaluate the Kingdom's reserves of uranium and zirconium, and to extract these heavy metals.

Jordan is estimated to have the 140,000 tonnes of uranium necessary for its nuclear programme, which will be used for electricity generation and water desalination.

Bensarsa also noted that any nuclear programme must abide by UN-International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regulations, which state that a developing country needs between 10-12 years to establish its first power reactor from the inception of the project.

The Kingdom is a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and other international protocols governing the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

Jordan has clearly announced that it needs to develop this nuclear programme as a solution for its scarce energy and water resources, Bensarsa said.

Jordan is one of the 10 poorest countries in the world in terms of water resources, with a deficit exceeding 500 million cubic metres a year.

During the meeting, the two sides also discussed means of cooperation in areas of renewable energy and power connectivity.

Earlier this week, Touqan said a UN nuclear watchdog team is expected to visit Jordan by the end of this month for talks on ways to establish two nuclear reactors, one for research and the other for energy.

The visit will be a follow- up to an April visit by IAEA chief Mohammad Al Baradei, who said the agency was ready to help the Kingdom acquire nuclear energy for peaceful use.

Bensarsa was in Jordan as part of a regional tour that included Egypt and Syria.