Jordan Times
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
'Jordan to become model for
atomic energy cooperation'
JT and agencies
AMMAN/PARIS - Jordan is set to become a model of international nuclear energy
cooperation and a main pillar in an international network of nuclear institutes,
French President Nicholas Sarkozy said on Monday.
At the opening of the International Conference on Access to Civil Nuclear Energy
yesterday, the French president announced the International Institute of Nuclear
Energy. The France-based institute would become the heart of an international
network of institutes, starting with the first centre in Jordan, Agence France-Presse
reported yesterday.
In a visit to the Kingdom last month, French Prime Minister Francois Fillion
highlighted the two countries' atomic energy agencies’ plans to establish an
“energy centre of excellence”.
According to the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) officials, the centre
will group various technical and educational programmes related to nuclear
engineering and safety such as the nuclear research reactor at the Jordan
University of Science and Technology.
In collaboration with French and other international institutions, the centre
will develop curricula and encourage multinational projects in the sector in
order to attract students and professionals from across the region.
Jordan and France have also expressed intent to establish a joint university in
Jordan. The university, which would receive local and international
accreditation, would be modelled after the French "Ecole Polytechnique" or
National Polytechnic Institute.
France, which generates 80 per cent of its electricity from nuclear power, was
one of the first countries to sign a nuclear cooperation agreement with the
Kingdom, and has since assisted in many aspects of the country's nuclear
programme.
Tractabel, a Belgian subsidiary of French energy firm GDF Suez, is currently
conducting geological and environmental impact studies for the site of the
Kingdom's first nuclear reactor, slated for construction near Aqaba.
The Jordan French Uranium Mining Company, a joint venture between French firm
AREVA and Jordan Energy Resources Inc., intends to establish an open-pit uranium
mine in the central region.
The firm has been operating within a 1,400-square-kilometre concession area
encompassing the Swaqa, Khan Azzabib, Wadi Maghar and Attarat areas.
French technology has also been short-listed as a potential for the Kingdom’s
first nuclear reactor, expected to be a 1,000-megawatt Generation III reactor.
A delegation headed by JAEC Chairman Khaled Toukan is taking part in the two-day
conference, which is witnessing the participation of dozens of countries and the
International Atomic Energy Agency.