Jordan has entered negotiations with French and Russian firms for the construction of the country's first nuclear reactor. The government is going ahead with parallel talks with AtomStroyExport and Atmea, a consortium comprising Areva and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, for the construction of up to two 1,100 MW reactors. The Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) was originally slated to select the final preferred vendor, but moved to extend the process due to the competitiveness of both bids. The JAEC will enter a nine-month negotiation period with the two firms before selecting the final vendor based on its financial offer and quoted electricity rates.
Last year, the JAEC narrowed a list of potential vendors to three shortlisted firms: AtomStroyExport, the French-Japanese consortium and Canada's AECL.
Areva is also currently carrying out exploration on uranium reserves in the central region, seen as a potential fuel source for the country's nuclear programme, with initial results indicating the presence of up to 20,000 tonnes. Should extraction prove feasible, the firm is scheduled to commence uranium mining as early as 2015.
Jordan aims to open its first nuclear power station by 2019 and generate 30 per cent of its total energy using nuclear power by the end of 2030.
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