Jordan in talks to secure finance for nuclear project

Jordan is in talks with several international groups to secure finance for its nuclear power plant, the state-run Petra news agency reported on Saturday.

Jordan started discussions with Chinese, German, Russian, Czech and Japanese companies to secure finance for the 10 billion U.S dollars project, said Khaled Toukan, chairman of the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission.

Russia and Jordan, partners in the project, will secure 3 billion dollars in financing equally, while the remaining 7 billion dollars will be attracted from partners and others, he said.

"There are positive steps being taken and if we secure finance by end of 2017, we will have the first reactor ready by 2025," he said.

Under the agreement between Jordan and Russia, Jordan will build a nuclear plant with two reactors. Each reactor will have a total capacity of 1,000 megawatts.

Jordan, which imports about 97 percent of its energy needs annually, is working on several energy projects, including nuclear, to meet energy needs.

Toukan added that Jordan is also going ahead with a project to explore and mine uranium in Jordan. Endit