Sep 12 2011 |
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Jordan to review reactor bids next week
By By Taylor Luck Energy officials are scheduled to open financial bids for the country's first nuclear reactor next week as the Kingdom's atomic energy programme moves closer to another milestone.According to Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Khaled Toukan, energy officials are to start the review of financial offers from international vendors for the construction of a 1,000-megawatt Generation III reactor.
Last month, the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) received financial bids from three short-listed vendors - Russian firm Atomstroyexport, Canadian AECL and a consortium comprising French AREVA and Japanese firm Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
Meanwhile, the JAEC is awaiting bids from potential strategic operators/investors to take part in the country's peaceful nuclear power programme.
French energy giant GDF Suez, China's Datang International Power Generation Co., Russia's Rosatom Corp. and Japan's Kansai Electric Power Co. are believed to be among the firms invited by JAEC to take part in the programme.
The technology selection process is said to have little influence over the selection of the strategic investor/operator.
Energy officials in Amman have prioritised nuclear power as key to weaning the country off energy imports - which cost the Kingdom around one-fifth of its gross domestic product in 2010 and some JD1.7 billion in the first half of 2011.
Plans for the country's first nuclear reactor have met resistance from some environmentalists and Mafraq residents, who have joined forces to hold a series of protests in Amman and near the proposed reactor site.
Energy officials highlight stable electricity costs and the presence of the Kingdom's strategic uranium reserves - estimated at over 100,000 tonnes - among the advantages of nuclear power.
In addition to health and environmental concerns, anti-nuclear activists point to water scarcity and a widening budget deficit as grounds to freeze the programme.
© Jordan Times 2011
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