Jordan will go nuclear: Energy Minister

Plans to build nuclear facilities for power generation in Jordan will go ahead the country’s energy minister has announced, despite calls to find other methods of production.

Japan’s Fukushima reactor disaster in March has had a profound impact on the world’s nuclear industry, with European countries turning away from the power source. However, Jordanian Energy Minister Khalid Touqan has said that the government would continue with plans to go nuclear.

“The nuclear programme is a strategic choice for Jordan in its drive to enhance its energy resources, and resolve the water shortage,” he told a press conference, adding that the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission would open a dialogue with the country’s civil society organizations with a view to a compromise with Jordanian public opinion.

The news comes just days after the Italian public voted nuclear power out during a referendum, which saw Berlusconi’s future energy plans dashed.

The Jordanian plant will cost more than $4 billion, and is currently tipped for construction in the Mafraq region, where demonstrations have been taking place in protest of the development.