Sunday, February 21, 2010

The escalation continues:France to aid Jordan in realizing 'nuclear ambitions'

The Associated Press and Haaretz Servicer

Visiting French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Sunday his country will help Jordan realize its nuclear ambitions with the signing of an agreement Sunday to mine its uranium reserves.

Jordan's peaceful nuclear development - backed by the United States - will generate electricity and desalinate water. The Jordanian government said it hoped nuclear energy will provide 30 percent of the country's electricity by 2030.
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Last year, Jordan's King Abdullah II told Haaretz of Jordan's plan to build nuclear power plants, saying that "what Jordan is going to do through its peaceful nuclear energy program is show the region how a country that wants to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes [can] do it right."

"The reactors we are looking at are Generation III-plus, which is by far the safest and most capable technology. It is safe from earthquakes, natural disasters, terrorist attacks. The technology we are looking at is one, if not two, generations ahead of what you have. We will, and we all should, be transparent when it comes to nuclear energy," Abdullah told Haaretz.

When asked when this transparency also applies to neighboring Israel, Abdullah said:
"Everybody. The problem that we have when it comes to the nuclear issue is that there is no transparency."

"It's sort of a dark subject. And that applies to Israel as it applies to other countries. I think we are trying to be the model of how to do the process correctly," Abdullah said.

Last year, Jordan signed a nuclear energy cooperation agreement with Russia, according to which Moscow will provide the Hashemite Kingdom with power plants, nuclear research facilities, and training centers.

"We intend to cooperate in building nuclear power plants... and plan to build four plants in Jordan in the coming decades," Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of Russia's state nuclear corporation, told the RIA Novosti news agency.

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