10 Mar (NucNet): Jordan and the US have signed a contract for the building and construction of a central storage facility for radioactive waste at the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission in Amman.
The agreement between the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) and the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNL) was signed in Washington by Ned Xoubi, Nuclear Fuel Cycle commissioner at JAEC, and Daniel Rutherford, contract manager at PNL.
Under the contract, the US DOE will provide the JAEC with 370,000 US dollars (290,000 euro) for construction of the facility, which is expected to be completed later this year.
The facility will store Jordan’s radioactive waste and nuclear sources for the next five decades. The embassy of Jordan in the US said all radioactive waste will be managed, stored and monitored in accordance with international standards and International Atomic and Energy Agency guidelines.
The JAEC is the governmental body responsible for the development and execution of the Jordanian nuclear power programme.
In 2007, Jordan’s King Abdullah called for proposals for the launch of a nuclear power programme in his country to be “speeded up”. Jordan has subsequently held talks about cooperation on nuclear-related projects with a number of countries.
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
IAEA Team Prepares To Help Jordan Plan Nuclear Energy (News No. 111, 8 May 2007)
China And Jordan Plan Cooperation On Nuclear Power And Uranium Mining (News No. 20 August 2008)
