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JORDAN’S NUCLEAR REGULATORY Commission has given the go-ahead for a first nuclear research reactor as the desert kingdom, which lacks any oil, seeks to meet its energy needs.
The five-megawatt reactor will be built at the Jordan University for Sciences and Technology near the northern city of Irbid, commission chief Majad Hawwari said.
“The approval of the project came after two years of studies and examination,” Hawwari said in a statement.
The Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute and Daewoo Engineering and Construction Company will construct the reactor, which is scheduled to become operational in 2016, he added.
“The reactor will help the commission build expertise and capabilities to prepare for constructing nuclear power plants in the future,” Hawwari said.
Jordanian officials have said the reactor will cost $130 million (€97 million) and that South Korea has loaned the equivalent of €52 million.
Amman is currently weighing rival bids to build the reactor by Russia’s Atomstroyexport and a consortium led by French nuclear giant Areva and Japan’s Mitsubishi.
With desert covering 92 per cent of its territory, the kingdom is one of the world’s 10 driest countries and wants to use atomic energy to fire desalination plants to overcome its crippling water shortage.
Importing 98 per cent of its power needs, Jordan also wants to develop nuclear technology to meet its growing energy requirements.
But the technology remains deeply sensitive in a region where Israel has an undeclared monopoly on nuclear weapons and Western governments have strong suspicions that Iran has an ambition to rival it.
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Jordan is building a Nuclear Reactor… She’s come a long way since page 3!
Stupid joke, this is a serious blog, behave yourself. Imagine 3 eyed people in Kerry due to radiation, wait a minute……
I hear the project name is Peter.
Wrong Carcu ; they’re calling it “Andre the Giant “!
Less than 100 million seems vey cheap, we pay that and more for bridges.
are you sure you don’t mean sheep ?
Ireland should be next.
Your right nuclear energy is the future. Conventional fission reactors are only the beginning theres traveling wave reactors, reactors that use thorium, molten salt reactors, anutronic fusion reactors, and the huge ignition and ITER projects.
Are we competent enough with such power and danger? We have a track record of screwing everything up.
You’re
For those who propose Nuclear power for Ireland I present the following for your perusal;
Pat Rabbitte would be in charge !
All the angels on heaven and earth couldn’t prevent a disaster with that clown at the helm !
Well eric thankfully we don’t rely on “angels” to save us from disaster.
Also Rabbitte will not be in office if and when this gets off the ground.
We’re putting a reactor in space ?
Regarding Angels; wasn’t that Angela’s name for a while ; Angel Merkel !
Alan are you are troll:-D
No he’s Batman ; none so blind as those who cannot see ; metaphor , in case you are visually impaired !
Eric – you could be my assistant. Would you like that? Would you like to ride with Batman?
Ireland needs nuclear energy
Troll.
Can I help you Tony?
Ireland currently over produces electricity by 12 % ; why would we want to make more Alan ; is that a vest I see under your cloak , is that why you’re interested ?
If you want to insinuate that I have a vested interest here you can just ask me openly. For the record I do not.
We need to establish a safe and sustainable energy grid to address the elephant in the room.
Fossil fuels are not sustainable nor are they clean.
Wind and Hydro electricity are not efficient.
Nuclear energy is cheap, efficient, clean and sustainable.
Ireland cannot afford to play catch up on this in 10 or 20 years and should be striving to be a world leader in this technology.
Nuclear energy is not safe Alan!
Fianna Fail are cheap does that mean we need them ?
Nuclear is not as clean as wind or wave !
Eric you must be amazing person
Thorium nuclear power,safe and clean,we definitely need this in Ireland http://www.forbes.com/most-popular/
Didn’t link properly,nuts
Here’s a nice video explaining Thorium presented by the lovely Dr. Kiki who is a serious scientist in spite of the name :-)
Sellafield is leaking !
You should look at anuetronic fusion its much more promising. http://nextbigfuture.com/2013/08/nuclear-fusion-brainstorming-session-at.html?m=1
@Matthew, aneutronic fusion is still at least a decade away even though it is feasible, Thorium is a proven technology from the 60′s and can do the kob right now until something better comes along.
Thorium using a motlen salt reactor is still at least a decade away too. Im all for thorium as well because it can be used to process spent fuel from fission reactors but i dont think itll ever be a major energy source in the future.
To the people commenting who reckon Ireland needs nuclear power….
1. We do not. The spirit of Ireland project, if built, would provide clean, safe, cheap energy.
2. It cost the taxpayer twice as much to build 25 miles of Luas than it cost NASA to put a probe on mars.
3. We couldn’t build the national aquatic centre without it leaking, fancy our chances with a nuclear reactor?? :)
Windfarms??? Do you seriously think windfarms are the solution to our impending energy crisis?
I take it you don’t know how the project works….
I’m quite aware aware of it I just wonder how the environmental impact of large scale windfarms will be addressed.
One state of the art nuclear piwer station could service the entire island with surplus being sold to the UK and Europe.
Hydroelctricity is admirable but will the people of Donegal be acdepting of this dams being built on their doorstep?
Its blatantly obvious from your original comment and then your reply after my comment that you did not know how the project works but have since looked into it further. Try not to treat people like idiots.
How is it blatantly obvious. I’m fully aware of what the Spirit of Ireland proposals are as they are well documented.
If you have more knowledge then perhaps you can answer the queries I raised and support your advocacy.
I’m quite happy enough to let everyone read the comments and decide for themselves, like I said its blatant i.e. “You think seriously think windfarms….etc” magically turns into “hydroelectricity is admirable….” after I point out that you don’t know what you’re talking about and you go and do a little bit of research.
Jammin I don’t understand where you’re going with this. You made a claim that the Spirit of Ireland project could solve our energy problems. I called you out on it and said it would not and I provided valid and sound reasoning. You have failed to provide any support for your position.
What does it matter if I knew about it or not or when I did some research – the proposals are still flawed on the most basic level.
If you advocate it publically then be prepared to debate it publically instead of whining when someone pulls you up on it.
“What does it matter if I knew about it or not or when I did some research ”
That was my point. When I pointed out you did not know what you were talking about, you did some research and then tried to cover up your original lack of knowledge.
Thanks for eventually admitting it.
Jammin let me clarify. I knew about this project before today. It is a pipe dream that is unsustainable and inefficient.
Can you now provide argument for your position considering you claim to know more about it than I do? That’s all I’ve asked you to do.
If this project really is the solution then please shout it from the rooftops and educate us all.
Flawless Victory.
A nuclear power plant should have been built at carnsore point 30 years ago. Unfortunately, the only thing generated there was mass hysteria fanned by the likes of Christie Moore and an unruly cabal of crusties, wimmins groups/lesbians, and an assortment of confused characters running around in search of an identity, which subsequently became know as PC. The scourge of our times.
The Japanese have fallen out of love with Nuclear Power !
that’s what happens when you go back killing whales ; Karma !
The Japanese are back in love with nuclear power as their PM broke his election promise to close the nuclear plants and has since made plans for building more plants.
Inb4 America says no
Wind is a failure as a soon to be released [ when their Lib-Dems stop their delay tactics] UK report shows
Country too unstable for this another terrorism act waiting to happen
I’m confused, who are the terrorists?
Dont ye all be worrying, at least we might be getting a new bus station
Plenty to of work for construction & transport companies from Ireland. Im guessing a lot of the materials for this will come from the UK.
Jordan would be an ideal location for solar energy projects, the argument for nuclear energy is far from won, we are one major accident away from destroying our environment permanently.
Ireland’s first electricity generation was renewable with hydro electric stations on the Shannon, Liffey and lee. We could be world leaders in wind wave and tidal power but we need more investment in R and D instead of buying in Technolgy.
We don’t have room for any more resevoirs for hydro on a large scale but small turbines are so efficient now that any one with access to a constant flow of water with around 2m head and .05cubic m/sec flow can install one generating a constant 1KW. This of course can be scaled upwards.Tidal is almost constant and predictable and some Irish R&D is showing great promise for the future. Wave less so. Wind is a disaster on all counts and all it does is generate subsidies. Thorium is the best prospect [ right now] for cheap and constant power and the nations leading the way in this field are India,China and Norway. You could put a Thorium reactor on a 40foot trailer and drop it where power is needed and power up some remote places which would make more sense than buying fleets of 4×4′s for the aid agencies.
Jordan will say that they will be better and safer than Japan at building this-how many idiots have made a promise like that in the past to get a big pay-check-
Whilst the rest of the world will be made to pay for their leaks/spills/accidents-
have your say