The chairman of the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission, Dr Khaled Touqan, confirmed on 29 June that Jordan had abandoned the idea of ??establishing a 2000MWe nuclear plant which was planned to be built with Russian technology. He said JAEC was no longer interested in the construction of a large plant and would consider building small modular reactors (SMRs) instead, which would be cheaper and more likely to be sponsored internationally.
JAEC said earlier that it is interested in developing high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) technology. Touqan noted that JAEC had signed two memorandums of understanding with China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) to conduct economic feasibility studies of Chinese technology this year. He added that the Commission is currently considering building the same reactor that is now under construction in China, but indicated that no contract would be signed before the Chinese reactor had been connected to the grid for at least two years.
In May, Bloomberg reported that a $1bn deal between Jordan and China was being considered to build a 220MWe helium-cooled nuclear reactor for possible signing in 2019. Touqan then had said “advanced” talks had been held with CNNC intending to begin work next year and bringing the reactor online in 2025. He added that Jordan was interested in using the plant for heat and electrical power.
Last year Rolls-Royce signed a memorandum of understanding with JAEC to carry out a feasibility study for the construction of a small modular reactor in Jordan. In May 2018, JAEC also signed an agreement for Rosatom to perform a feasibility study on the deployment of a low-power small modular reactor.
JAEC said earlier that it had cancelled the $10bn deal with Russia because of financing issues. The commission said the Jordanian government had not incurred any financial losses or legal issues as a result of scrapping the deal, which was signed in 2015 between the JAEC and Russia’s Rosatom Overseas.
JAEC said financial expenses of Jordan's nuclear programme from 2008 until the end of 2017 had totalled JOD112m ($157m), which was allocated in the budget. In addition, a JOD59m loan had been taken to build and run the Jordan Research and Training Reactor (JRTR). The loan, which will be repaid from 2020 over a period of 20 years ending in 2040, is from Korean EXIM Bank at an interest rate of 0.2% per cent.
