Jordan Times, Monday, April 16, 2007

King says Jordan to be model for peaceful nuclear energy

AMMAN (JT) — King Abdullah stressed Sunday on the need to create a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction, saying Jordan will set an example to other countries in peaceful use of nuclear energy.

During talks with visiting UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohammad Al Baradei, the King said Jordan, an IAEA member and a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), will become a model for peaceful use of nuclear energy in line with international rules.

The Jordan News Agency, Petra, quoted the King as saying the IAEA’s support for the Kingdom, including technical assistance and development of human capabilities, would guarantee the success of the country’s aspired nuclear programme.

The King said the atomic programme is needed to develop the technology to diversify the country’s energy sources, mainly due to rising oil prices. He added that the programme would only be for "peaceful use, generating electricity and desalinating water".

In turn, Baradei said his agency will send a team next week to follow up on the project.

Jordan plans to set up a nuclear plant by 2015 to generate electricity and desalinate water.

The Kingdom is one of the 10 most water-impoverished countries in the world, with its annual water deficit exceeding 500 million cubic metres.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Khalid Shraideh said Sunday the need to find alternative energy sources was rapidly growing. He told reporters following a meeting with Baradei that the country’s demand for power alone grew by 20 per cent from last year. In earlier remarks to the press, Shraideh estimated the cost of a nuclear plant to generate electricity between $600-800 million for a 400-megawatt plant and between $800 million to $1 billion for a 600-megawatt plant. He said the country would exert efforts to bring in a strategic partner for such a project.

Shraideh said officials would also request assistance from the IAEA in determining the country’s reserve in uranium. Energy officials said Jordan has tens of thousands of tonnes of uranium reserves.

The Parliament is expected to hold an extraordinary session on Wednesday to vote on draft laws, including a bill on the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

In January, the King announced that he wanted to develop Jordan's nuclear capabilities for peaceful purposes.

Several regional states, including the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council as well as Egypt and Turkey, declared similar intentions.

Jordan’s atomic plans come amid growing Arab concern over Iran's uranium enrichment programme, which Tehran insists is part of a peaceful nuclear project to produce electricity. Western countries, however, charge Iran of using a nuclear energy programme to try to develop atomic weapons.

Baradei yesterday called on Iran and Israel to join a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East.

“At the end of the day the Middle East should be a zone free of weapons of mass destruction, a zone in which Israel and Iran are both members," he told reporters following his meeting with the King.

"This is the last chance to build security in the Middle East based on trust and cooperation and not the possession of nuclear weapons," Petra quoted Baradei as saying. He added that a peace deal between Israel and its Arab neighbours "must be reached in parallel with a security agreement in the region based on ridding the region of all weapons of mass destruction".

Israel is considered the only nuclear power in the region with an arsenal of around 200 warheads, according to AFP.

Baradei said Arab countries joined the NPT while Israel hasn't, adding that there was an "imbalance" in nuclear capabilities of Israel and the Arab countries.

“Israel has a nuclear deterrent force while all Arab countries have committed their programmes to peaceful purposes,” he added.

Baradei repeated calls on Iran to cooperate with IAEA with sufficient transparency until the agency makes sure the Iranian programme was devoted to “peaceful purposes". "We have not seen that this programme is devoted to military purposes and we have not seen underground facilities," he said. But he added: "There is fear over Iran's future intentions, not today but within the next five to ten years. We still have plenty of time to solve this issue peacefully, the only way to solve the Iranian problem is through negotiations," he added. Baradei dismissed a military option concerning Iran as "unrealistic and disastrous".

Baradei is in Jordan on the last leg of a three-nation regional tour that has taken him to Saudi Arabia and Oman. 

Monday, April 16, 2007