Jordan Times
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Baradei begins Jordan visit
AMMAN (AFP) — UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohammad Al Baradei began a three-day
visit on Saturday for talks with officials on Jordan's aim to acquire nuclear
energy for peaceful use, officials said.
The head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was due
to meet separately on Sunday with King Abdullah, Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit,
Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib and other top officials.
His talks will cover Jordan's ambition to set up a nuclear plant by 2015 to
generate electricity, as well as the use of nuclear technology in education and
to desalinate water for Kingdom, officials said.
Jordan imports 95 per cent of all its energy needs and is one of the 10 most
water-impoverished countries in the world, with its water deficit exceeding 500
million cubic metres a year, according to official estimates.
"Jordan has for years been seeking alternative energy sources that will help us
alleviate the increasing burdens of importing energy amid rising fuel prices,"
King Abdullah said in an interview last week with AFP.
"We in Jordan feel, as do other countries, the need to secure the transfer and
establishment of nuclear energy technology as an alternative to importing oil
for generating electricity and water desalination," he said.
"This will help us fulfill our energy needs," he said, adding that he will
discuss the issue with Baradei.
According to Maher Hijazin, director of the Natural Resources Authority, the
country has "tens of thousands of tonnes" of uranium reserves.
"The uranium reserves in Jordan have not been specified and determined to
details, but we have definitely tens of thousands of tonnes... and you can use a
fraction of that for any project. You don't need that much for powering nuclear
plants," he told AFP.
During his visit to Jordan, Baradei will also visit an IAEA-funded international
research facility south of Amman. Jordan is the third leg of a tour that has
already taken him to Saudi Arabia and Oman.