The government of Jordan has confirmed an agreement with Russia's Rosatom to build the Middle Eastern nation's first nuclear plant and also designated a site for construction.
Last year, Rosatom's bid beat out Areva/MHI and Candu to build two, 1,000 megawatt pressurized water reactors, and the company has been negotiating a development document and an intergovernmental agreement. Russia will provide 49.9 percent of the project capital, with the remainder raised from public and private sources in Jordan. The Jordan Times reported that the decision by Jordan's Prime Ministry Sunday to confirm Rosatom as the preferred construction vendor opens the door for the second stage of negotiations. Rosatom will also own and operate the reactors, and the parties will work toward an agreement over power pricing, hoping to break ground on the $10 billion plant by 2015.
That construction will take place near Qusayr Amra northeast of Amman. The newly confirmed site is proximate to a wastewater treatment plant that will serve as the water source for the reactors.
Nuclear Street
20 August
