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Russia, which is helping Iran build its first nuclear plant, inked a preliminary cooperation deal with Jordan on Thursday to pave the way for producing nuclear power in the energy-poor kingdom. Under the agreement, Russia will help Jordan, which imports around 95 percent of its energy needs, build power and desalination plants as well as research centres, Jordan Atomic Energy Commission head Khaled Tukan said. "A final agreement will be signed in Moscow by the end March," Tukan told state news agency Petra after signing the deal with Nikolai Spassky, deputy director of the Russian Federal Agency for Nuclear Energy. "It's key to boost Jordan's peaceful nuclear programme." Jordan's 1.2 billion tonnes of phosphate reserves are estimated to contain 130,000 tonnes of uranium, whose enriched form provides fuel for nuclear plants. The government wants the first such plant to be ready by 2015.

Jordan and the United States have signed a contract for the construction of a modern central storage facility (CSF) for radioactive waste at the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission ((JAEC) in Amman. JAEC Nuclear Fuel Cycle Commissioner Ned Xoubi and Daniel Rutherford, contract manager at the US Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory signed the agreement in Washington, DC last week, according to a statement released by the Jordanian embassy in the US. Under the contract agreement, the US Department of Energy will provide the JAEC with $370,000 for the construction of the advanced storage facility. Expected to be completed later this year, the storage facility will host Jordan's radioactive waste and nuclear sources in a safe and secure environment for the next five decades.

The Joint Higher Jordanian-French Steering Committee convened on Thursday to draw up a nuclear strategy and look into mechanisms to foster cooperation between the two sides. At the meeting, co-chaired by Jordan Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Khaled Toukan and Director General for Energy and Climate in France Pierre-Franck Chevet, Toukan said the committee was formed after signing an agreement on nuclear cooperation and a protocol between Jordan and France last year during His Majesty King Abdullah's visit to France. Toukan added that five working teams were formed under the committee, including a group tasked with the issue of funding the proposed project, especially uranium mining and the building of a nuclear power generation plant in the Kingdom.

China and Jordan on Tuesday inked a deal on a power station expansion project, the first of its kind implemented by Chinese firms in Jordan's power generation sector and hailed by the Chinese ambassador in Jordan Gong Xiaosheng as a result of bilateral cooperation. The add-on cycle power plant contract, worth of multi-million U.S. dollars, was signed by China's Shandong Electric Power Construction Corp III Electric Power Construction Corp.(SEPCO III)and Samra Electric Power Generating Co. (SEPGCO).

Energy-thirst Jordan plans to purchase a nuclear reactor from France to produce electricity and enriched uranium for peaceful purposes, Prime Minister Nader Dahabi was quoted by official news agency Petra on Monday. Jordan is currently negotiating such a cooperation deal with a French company, Dahabi said in a meeting with members of the Jordanian-French Parliamentary Friendship Committee.

"Nuclear energy is a double-edged sword that should be regulated and put under efficient controls, said Jamal Sharaf Chairman of the Jordan Nuclear Regulatory Commission JNRC. He told participants in a nuclear safety course held in cooperation with the Arab Atomic Energy Agency, that safety is the mainstay of radiation protection and control. Sharaf said that the JNRC was ready to receive Arab nuclear staff to be trained on nuclear safety and radiation control, urging broader Arab cooperation in this regard."

South Korea has taken the lead in talks to sell Jordan a nuclear power plant through a private deal without a formal bidding process, which would be its first such export deal, local media reported on Wednesday citing a top executive. "Jordan's No.1 nuclear power plant (project) is leaning towards a private deal with South Korea without a public bid," Kim Ssang-soo, the chief executive officer of state-run Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) (015760.KS), was quoted as saying during his trip to Amman.

In the wake of revelations that a Belfast man had a stash of potentially hazardous materials at his home when he was killed last December, state Public Safety Commissioner Anne Jordan stressed Wednesday that at no time was the public at risk. Jordan did confirm that a number of materials were taken from the home of James G. Cummings on the night of Dec. 9, and that the FBI was contacted.

Egypt may be the focus of Russia's attempt to sell its nuclear wares abroad. But Egypt's neighbours are also desperate to acquire atomic energy, with the UAE and Jordan also looking at ways of developing the technology. Despite Western calls for non-proliferation in the Middle East - with fear that Iran's acquisition of a nuclear bomb could trigger an arms race - Britain, France and the US are among the countries helping to supply the know-how and material for nuclear reactors. In the UAE, the US signed a deal to develop a nuclear reactor on the understanding that the country, which has strong trade ties with Iran, will not produce its own nuclear fuels. Britain signed an agreement with Jordan, Israel's energy-poor neighbour.

WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Department of Energy today announced continued progress at the conclusion of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership's (GNEP's) second Steering Group meeting. Representatives from twenty-eight countries and three intergovernmental organizations attended the two-day meeting in the Kingdom of Jordan hosted by the Jordanian Atomic Energy Commission.

The Commissioner of the Maine Department of Public Safety said Wednesday, Feb. 11, in a press release that the health and safety of the public were never at risk from items seized in December from the High Street home of homicide victim James Cummings. Commissioner Anne Jordan was reacting to published reports that potentially hazardous materials were recovered from the home of Cummings, who was shot and killed Dec. 9, 2008, by his wife, Amber Cummings.

"Toshiba Corp., Hitachi Ltd. and Tokyo Electric Power Co. are among six Japanese companies that will form a joint venture to sell nuclear reactors and technology to Vietnam and other countries. The group, which includes Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Chubu Electric Power Co. and Kansai Electric Power Co., will seek financial assistance from the trade ministry, they said in a joint statement yesterday. The companies have set up an office ahead of forming the venture this autumn. Japan is holding talks for nuclear cooperation treaties with India, Jordan, and Russia and has had preliminary discussions with Vietnam. The trade ministry will work to speed negotiations for the treaties, which are necessary for Japanese companies to export nuclear technology, the ministry said in a statement yesterday. "

"The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Steering Group met in Accra, Ghana on June 16-17, 2010 and approved unanimously several transformative changes to reflect global developments that have occurred since the Partnership was established in 2007. The transformation includes a new name - the International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation -- and the establishment of a new Statement of Mission. Participants in this new International Framework agreed that this transformation was necessary to provide a broader scope with wider international participation to more effectively explore the most important issues underlying the use and expansion of nuclear energy worldwide. The Steering Group addressed follow-up actions to the International Framework's Executive Committee Meeting that occurred in Beijing on October 23, 2009, including ways to further enhance its activities, such as exchanges of views on approaches to assurances of fuel supply and cradle-to-grave nuclear fuel management. Jordan formally announced that it will host the next meeting of the International Framework's Executive Committee in the fall of 2010."

Former world leaders and arms-control negotiators joined entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson and the queen of Jordan Tuesday to launch a project aimed at eliminating the world's nuclear weapons over the next 25 years. The group wants to reach the impossible-sounding goal by reviving nuclear disarmament efforts that have lagged since the end of the Cold War. It is proposing deep cuts in U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals, a worldwide verification and enforcement system and phased reduction leading to elimination of all stockpiles.

Several conservative Senate Republicans failed Tuesday to amend a resolution calling for the development of renewable energy sources to include nuclear power. SJR1, sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Pat Jones, D-Holladay, was approved 27-1 without the amendment and now goes to the House. Only Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, voted against it. Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, had argued that nuclear power should be added to the list of renewable energy sources in the bill - wind, geothermal and solar. Buttars said leaving nuclear power off that list sent the message the state isn't interested in its development.

Authorities removed some radioactive material and instructions for building a "dirty bomb" from the home of man whose wife is accused of fatally shooting him, but law enforcers said Wednesday there was never a public health risk. The radioactive materials discovered in the home of James Cummings after he was killed Dec. 9 were not enough to make a dirty bomb, officials said. A National Guard civil team went to the home after the shooting, and a state hazardous materials team removed several items, officials said Wednesday. The Maine team told state police detectives it was safe to continue processing evidence, said Maine Public Safety Commissioner Anne Jordan.

Amman Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. and the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute received an order to build Jordan's first nuclear reactor. The five-megawatt reactor, for research and training purposes, will be completed by 2014, South Korea's science ministry said yesterday in an official statement. According to the Seoul daily Korea Times, the deal is valued at $173 million and represents Korea's first export of a locally-designed nuclear plant. Daewoo edged out Argentina's Invap, China's CNNC and Russia's Atom Story Export (ASE).

Amman Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. and the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute received an order to build Jordan's first nuclear reactor. The five-megawatt reactor, for research and training purposes, will be completed by 2014, South Korea's science ministry said yesterday in an official statement. According to the Seoul daily Korea Times, the deal is valued at $173 million and represents Korea's first export of a locally-designed nuclear plant. Daewoo edged out Argentina's Invap, China's CNNC and Russia's Atom Story Export (ASE).