AMMAN, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Jordan said on Tuesday it will start producing the yellow cake needed for running nuclear reactors at the end of 2018.
Khaled Toukan, chairman of the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC), said in a press conference that the kingdom's central region is home to 40,000 metric tonnes of uranium, which has enough yellow cake to supply Jordan for more than 100 years.
The volume is expected to increase as excavations are underway in several areas.
Toukan added that an industrial facility will be constructed in the central parts of Jordan for the production of yellow cake.
"We expect to start producing tens of kilos of yellow cake by the end of this year," said Toukan.
Toukan stressed that Jordan is home to qualified human resources needed in the field, adding that training of Jordanian experts and students in this regard is ongoing.
The official said Jordan is planning to focus on small modular nuclear reactors during the upcoming period.
He added that feasibility studies are underway by JAEC, King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy of Saudi Arabia and Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute to build two nuclear reactors in Jordan at a total capacity of 220 megawatts.
The two reactors, which are System-integrated Modular Advanced Reactors (SMART), will cost around 800 million U.S. dollars, Toukan said.
Jordan is looking forward to benefiting from all the available technologies in order to meet its energy needs.
