NUCLEAR POWER MEETINGS IN JORDAN

UNCLAS STATE 156094


SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KNNP PARM PREL
SUBJECT: NUCLEAR POWER MEETINGS IN JORDAN

REF: A. AMMAN 2752

B. AMMAN 2442

C. AMMAN 1764

D. AMMAN 939

E. AMMAN 138

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Summary
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1. (U) On August 9, Alex Burkart, Deputy Director of the
Office of Nuclear Energy, Safety and Security, Bureau of
International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN/NESS),Jody
Daniel, Office of Regional Affairs (ISN/RA),and Embassy
Econoff held several meetings with Jordanian officials to
discuss Jordan's interest in pursuing a peaceful nuclear
power program (reftels). The delegation met with senior
officials at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources
(MEMR),the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC),and the
National Electric Power Company (NEPCO). Overall, it
appeared that while ready and willing to pursue a nuclear
power program, under nonproliferation conditions the United
States would find appropriate, the Government of Jordan lacks
the funding to plan and regulate it.


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Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR)
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2. (U) Khaldoun Qutishat, Secretary General of MEMR,
explained that Jordan is exploring all energy options,
including nuclear, in light of Jordan's growing energy
demands (Ref B). Jordan's growing energy demands are
compounded by the fact that Jordan imports over 95 percent of
its energy, and 80 percent of electricity is generated from
natural gas from Egypt. With the growing price of natural
gas, Jordan's energy costs in 2006 accounted for more than 20
percent of its GDP.


3. (SBU) Qutishat informed the delegation that if the GOJ
pursued nuclear power, MEMR was interested in a
Build-Own-Operate (BOO) concept in which the privately owned
and operated nuclear power plant would sell electricity to
the government owned electric power distribution company,
National Electric Power Company (NEPCO). This follows the
Independent Power Producer model that is already in effect
for AES/Mitsui (Ref E). The Ministry would provide the
company with a guaranteed price and market share necessary
for the company to be profitable. Qutishat said that the
Ministry did not have a problem with the reactor being owned
by a foreign company.


4. (SBU) The Ministry is planning on a nuclear power plant of
about 400 MWe being on line around 2020. Acknowledging that
the reactor should represent no more than 10-12 percent of
the entire capacity in case of maintenance or shut down,
Qutishat said this size plant would fit within the
anticipated grid size of nearly 4000 MWe. He added that
Jordan was considering using some of the power from the
reactor for desalination, but he well understood the problems
of having too large a plant for the grid.


5. (SBU) Burkart asked Qutishat if Jordan had considered the
possibility of sharing a reactor with one or more of its
neighbors. Qutishat said that Jordan had not considered it,
but, noting that Jordan has had a linked grid with Egypt for
twelve years, he acknowledged that this would be an idea
worth exploring. Qutishat added that if a reactor located in
Jordan were provide power to neighboring states, the GOJ
could potentially look into a 600 MWe reactor. When Burkart
asked about the possibility of sharing nuclear power with
Israel, Qutishat said that it would be possible since
Jordan's grid connects to the West Bank. However, Quitshat
noted, opening the shared grid to Israel would require the
unanimous consent of all current members of the grid network,
including Syria.


6. (SBU) In addition to the discussions about the future of
nuclear power in Jordan, Qutishat mentioned that the GOJ has
begun exploring how to exploit Jordan's extensive oil shale
reserves for generating electricity. According to Qutishat,
over 77 percent of the world's oil shale is located in
Jordan. As most of the oil is in deep shale or shallow shale
with a high sulfur content, to date it has not been
economical to extract the oil from the shale. However, with
the rising cost of oil and newly developed technology,
several companies are working with MEMR to explore the
economic feasibility of this endeavor (Ref B).

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Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC)
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7. (SBU) During a visit to the JAEC, the delegation met with
JAEC Director General Dr. Ziad Kodah, CEO of the new Jordan
Energy Corporation (JEC) Riyad Bitar, and Dr. Ned Xoubi,
Chairman of the Nuclear Engineering Department of Jordan
University of Science and Technology (JUST). Kodah expressed
strong desires for local content of a Jordanian nuclear power
program and appeared less fixed on how Jordan might proceed
in developing its nuclear ambitions. One of its goals is
ensuring effective technology transfer and national
participation in all phases. However, Kodah made clear that
while JAEC was interested in recovering uranium from its
extensive phosphate resources through JEC, it was not
interested in uranium conversion, enrichment or fuel
fabrication. Jordan would buy the fuel, but according to
Kodah, Jordan's uranium reserve was a strategic asset and
integral component of Jordan's future nuclear industry. When
asked what types of U.S. assistance would be available for
uranium exploration and character
ization, the delegation said that would explore possibilities
back in Washington.


8. (SBU) JAEC was less certain than MEMR about the size of
the reactor and was considering a variety of types, including
an on-line refueled CANDU from Canada. Kodah also pointed
out that Jordan is already a party to the Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT),a comprehensive safeguards agreement and an
Additional Protocol and would consider other treaties as
appropriate.


9. (U) Kodah said that although NEPCO had developed a
national strategy to explore all option for addressing
Jordan's future energy needs, Jordan needed an economic and
technical feasibility study specific to nuclear power. JAEC
is hoping to work with the IAEA through a 2008 Technical
Cooperation project to develop such a study.


10. (U) According to Kodah, Jordan has established two
independent entities to handle planning and regulation. It
has begun the process of developing manpower through
establishing a Nuclear Engineering degree program at the
Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST). As many
of Jordan's existing experts are U.S. educated, JUST is
talking to U.S. universities for assistance. (Note: On July
26, JUST signed an MOU with North Carolina State University
proposing collaboration and exchanges in the field of nuclear
engineering. We understand that JUST also has agreements
with the University of Illinois, Virginia Tech, Ohio State
and the University of California.) Xoubi made a request for
USG support (a few million dollars in seed money) to begin
acquisition of a small research reactor for training and
isotope production. He suggested that a reactor of less than
5 MW would be appropriate, and mentioned General Atomics as a
potential source. Jordanian interlocutors noted that there
have also been extens
ive discussions with the IAEA, and Burkart highlighted IAEA
Footnote A Projects and Fellowships as useful mechanisms for
identifying needs and funding for technical cooperation.
Burkart pointed out that Jordan should focus first on
planning and regulation, and that localization should be
focused first on supporting technologies that could later be
used to foster non-nuclear development (e.g., high quality
welders). As discussion explored various ways the United
States might be helpful, Kodah stressed that JAEC's emphasis
was on something near term and tangible as a demonstration of
support.


11. (SBU) The delegation had anticipated more discussion of a
U.S-Jordan nuclear energy cooperation agreement, but the
responsible Jordanian official was unavailable. Burkart
provided a copy of the U.S.-Egypt agreement as a model.
While ISN had thought an agreement would not be necessary for
several years, Xoubi said that JUST would like to acquire a
surplused sub-critical reactor. Such a transfer would
require such a nuclear cooperation agreement if it came from
the United States.

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National Electric Power Company (NEPCO)
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12. (SBU) Similar themes surfaced during the meeting with Dr.
Ahmad Hiyasat, Managing Director of NEPCO, although NEPCO was
less sure whether a nuclear power plant would be privately or
government owned. Hiyasat also spoke in more detail about
the linked grid Jordan shares with Turkey, Syria, Egypt,
Libya, Lebanon and Iraq (Ref A). Hiyasat conveyed the same
point as Qutishat had about the potential problems with
sharing nuclear power with Israel: while Jordan would not
object, Syria does not have a peace treaty with Israel and
has objected previously to including Israel in the grid.
RICE


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