MANAMA: Jordan’s Committee for Nuclear Strategy, established in 2007, envisaged nuclear power providing as much as 30% of the Kingdom’s electricity needs by 2030. The Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) and a regulatory body were also set up, according to APICORP Energy Research June 2016.
In 2014, JAEC chose Russia’s Rosatom to develop the first nuclear project: two 1 GW plants in Qusayr Amra, 70km southeast of Amman. Construction of the two reactors is scheduled to begin later this year, the first to start up in 2024 and the second in 2026 – at a total cost of $1 Obn. Water scarcity and funding are among several challenges Jordan will face but it has devised a strategy to address these concerns by providing for water desalination and by promoting public-private partnerships.
