Jordan close to commissioning nuclear reactors

By Massoud A. Derhally
  • Thursday, 7 March 2013 4:51 PM
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Jordan will decide next month which group of companies will build two nuclear reactors, the kingdom's first, as part of a strategy to become energy efficient.

The kingdom will pick Russia's Rosatom or France's Areva and Japan's Mitsubishi to build the 1GW reactors that will cost €12bn, the Financial Times reported, citing said Khaled Toukan, chairman of the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission.

Jordan imports more than 90 percent of all its energy needs (the daily equivalent of 100,000 barrels of a oil a day) and relies on foreign grants to finance its current account and fiscal deficits.

The kingdom until recently was dependent on Egypt for its gas supply, which has caused its public debt to soar.

Jordan's public debt rose 23.7 percent to 16.5bn dinars ($23bn) or about 75 percent of gross domestic product last year, according to government figures.

In parallel to its pursuit of nuclear energy the kingdom is also looking at shale extraction. Jordan has the world’s fourth-largest reserves of oil shale , an organic-rich, fine-grained sedimentary rock from which liquid hydrocarbons (shale oil) can be produced. Shale oil is a substitute for conventional crude oil, and the oil can also be burned directly for power production similar to coal.

The kingdom, which has one of the smallest economies in the region, is also planning to build a $18bn pipeline with Iraq that will help its neighbour export its oil from the southern city of Basra through the port city of Aqaba by 2017.

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Posted by: Stop & Think Sunday, 10 March 2013 12:46 PM[UAE] - UAE

It?s mind bottling. The sheer number of herd mentalists when it comes to so called "Iran threat". Has research completely died? Boy, the master minds of 911 couldn?t have dreamed of a better outcome. Mass hysteria, mass propaganda? mass mental terrorism, in megabytes per second, globally.

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Posted by: EyesWideShut Friday, 8 March 2013 9:17 PM[UAE] - policeman of the world

It's curious how nuclear energy is given the green light in Jordan but is most definitely a problem for Iran....hm. But I suppose that the answer lies in the numbers:
"Jordan's public debt rose 23.7 percent to 16.5bn dinars ($23bn) or about 75 percent of gross domestic product last year, according to government figures." Ah...the public debt; that's what the private, international bankers love to hear. It's music to their ears.
AND, someone's fat, pudgy fingers will be all over the 18bn deal to build the pipeline between Jordan and Basra, Iraq. (I guess the pipelines in Basra were all bombed out of existence by the policeman of the world so that the policeman's masters & rulers of the world could gain control and some more cash along the way.) Ain't it all just a wonderful con game, though?

Posted by: procan Sunday, 10 March 2013 9:27 PM[UAE] - canada

Jordan is a peaceful country and friend. Iran is the enemy of the west fact will not change for some time they should just get use to fact there will be no peace with the west. Jordan we like.

Posted by: Grant Holt Sunday, 10 March 2013 10:22 AM[UAE] - UAE

I would imagine it is to do with the fact that Jordan is a peaceful nation, not making threats against other actions.

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