Jordan determined to sign a nuclear cooperation deal with the US
In March 2015, Jordan, a state that lacks any local energy resources, signed a deal with Russia to build the Kingdom's first two nuclear power plants by the end of 2025.
By MAAYAN GROISMANEmployees of the Research Institute for Protective Technologies, Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection (WIS) inspect a dummy sample which is contaminated with a substance similar to the chemical weapon Sarin.(photo credit: REUTERS)
After a long controversy with the White House administration over Jordan's nuclear program, the Hashemite Kingdom seems eager to change the course of these discussions and reach a deal on nuclear cooperation with the US.In a press conference on Sunday, Jordan's Minister of Energy Khaled Toukan stated Jordan is seeking a nuclear cooperation agreement with the US in order to obtain American nuclear technologies.In March 2015, Jordan, a state that lacks any local energy resources, signed a deal with Russia to build the Kingdom's first two nuclear power plants by the end of 2025.Toukan, however, said Sunday that his country lacks the funds to pay for the deal and it is currently seeking for a third partner to enable it to implement the agreement.Toukan added that the chances of having these two nuclear plant built by 2025 range from 70 percent to 75%.Jordan's King Abdullah II has a vision of transforming the Hashemite Kingdom into a regional hub of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.Jordan's past controversies with the American government focused on the US demand that Jordan share its uranium enrichment with Israel. In 2010, The US conditioned economic aid to the Kingdom on nuclear cooperation with Israel.