Jordan and South Korea have signed a $70 million loan agreement to finance the construction of Jordan’s first nuclear research reactor, that will become operational by 2017.
A $70 million loan agreement to finance Jordan’s first nuclear research reactor has been signed with South Korea.
The state-run Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute and Daewoo Engineering and Construction Co. are expected to start building a 5-megawatt reactor November 1 at the Jordan University for Science and Technology near the northern city of Irbid.
South Korean media reports said it is the first time a complete atomic research facility will be built abroad.
A planning ministry statement said Monday the reactor will be "fully commissioned within five years and a nuclear power plant will be built by 2017."
The Petra news agency said the proposed reactor is part of the kingdom’s efforts to establish a nuclear program to desalinate water, generate electricity and turn Jordan into an energy exporter by 2030.
South Korean media reports said the reactor to be built at the Jordan University of Sciences and Technology, about 70 kilometers north of Amman, will be based on South Korea's 30 megawatt High-flux Advanced Neutron Application Reactor (HANARO) unit. The HANARO unit in Daejeon, some 160 kilometers south of Seoul, has been in operation since 1995. |
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