Jordan’s Plan to Construct Compact Nuclear Reactors

Khaled Toukan, head of the Jordanian Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC), said his country is interested in building small nuclear reactors and is studying models from some countries, including Russia.

Toukan indicated that the authorities are waiting for a “green light” from the government to implement such projects.

Toukan said that the Jordanian side is exploring all the possibilities available in Russian, Korean, French and British reactors.

He added: “We did all the research. The infrastructure is there, there are studies on site selection and provision of water for cooling. Now we are comparing technologies and we want to get the green light from the government. the issue of providing water for cooling and the issue of financing, and we are studying these details with all the companies known for their Russians in order to choose the best model in Jordanian conditions.

According to him, it was decided to use low-power reactors for water desalination and electricity generation. He noted that, for example, the possibility of using a floating reactor in Aqaba is being considered, but this may cause concern among neighboring countries.

Toukan ruled out the possibility that Jordan would be ready in the next ten years to build large reactors – about 1000 megawatts, and that the choice in favor of small reactors was justified – the presence of a problem in providing water resources to the country.

In 2015, Russia and Jordan agreed on two nuclear reactors with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts each. But in 2018, it was announced that Jordan had pulled out of the project. In the same period, Russia and Jordan signed an agreement on the development of a project for the construction of a low-power nuclear power unit (about 200 megawatts) in Jordan.

Source: News