Amman - The Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) said Friday it signed a memo with Rolls-Royce to conduct a technical feasibility study to build a Small Modular Reactor (SMR) program in Jordan for the purpose of electricity generation and water desalination.

JAEC Deputy Chairman, Kamal Al-A'raj, who signed the memo with Director Strategy and Business Development at Rolls-Royce, Alan Woods, said the memorandum provides for cooperation between the two sides to identify technical, economic, financial and safety factors for building the 440-Megawatt SMR program.

According to Rolls-Royce data published in September, the SMR is an added-value with $132 billion that would boost UK's economy and open global potential SMR markets worth ?400 billion.

JAEC Chairman, Khale Toukan, told Petra on Friday that the memorandum is of great importance and it comes within Jordan's endeavors to add nuclear power to the Kingdom's energy mix. He said Rolls-Royce champions a British consortium to design the SMRs , which are low cost and reduce carbon emission.© Jordan News Agency - Petra 2017