DW
As Jordan is working on plans to build its first nuclear power plant, the demonstrators still criticise decision in the country to go nuclear in the first place. They say it wastes water and ignores the renewable energy potential country.
Safa Al Jayoussi, an activist with Greenpeace in Jordan, became concerned when she begins to explain why the Jordan will not be able to cope with the impending turn of the country to the nuclear power plant. She said that the Jordan is one of the five poorest countries of the world and that new power plans will simply put the nation under the pressure even more.
"Nuclear power plants require large quantities of cooling water, usually from a large river or a Lake," she told DW. "But in Jordan, we have really not all sources of water."
She is also concerned about a potential nuclear disaster similar to what happened at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in March 2011.
It is proposed to use greywater from a plant of wastewater for cooling,"says Al Jayoussi. «All this facility, which is likely to occur, water shortage will cause a huge problem looks a lot like what we saw in Fukushima.»
Plans taking shape
In 2009, the Jordan newly formed Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) said its plans to build five nuclear reactors in the country. The first would be operational by 2020, they said, and would generate 44% of the energy mix of the Jordan.
A warm country and arid sandwiched between Israel and the Syria, the Jordan is not to boast of its own substantial oil reserves. In fact, according to the Government officials, in 2012 the country imported 95 percent of its energy. It is this addiction that the country hopes to resolve with nuclear reactors.
"Currently, we pay about 1.8 billion $ (1.35 billion euros) per year for electricity additional imports from Jordan," says Kamal Araj, Vice President of the JAEC.
Araj argues that nuclear energy will make energy security in Jordan, something he struggled with in the past.
"Nuclear runs for 60 years and although there's lots of fluctuations in the price of oil or gas and diesel prices, for nuclear, the price is set for a lifetime," he says, in an interview with DW. Araj said that, according to him, are not viable renewable energy sources because "they do work for 25 to 30 years."
At the opening of the first factory, Jordan plans to buy electricity from the power plant operator at a price fixed, considerably cheaper than the price the State pays now for electricity.
What about solar?
But Safa Al Jayoussi and Burgan Basel organization ecologist, Jordanian Friends of the Environment, both are disagree with the assessment of Araj of renewable energies. The Jordan has 330 days of sunshine per year and is, according to Burgan, the ideal candidate for solar.
"European Union recruits land in North Africa for solar energy projects," he said. "Then why are we turning to nuclear without exploring the possibilities of using solar energy? On the one hand, solar has become cheaper. »
Professor Steve Thomas, an expert on nuclear policy of the University of Greenwich, London, also questioned the argument that renewables are not a realistic option for the Jordan.
"Although the Government have said that they are not sustainable, what is not really viable is their nuclear plans," he told DW.
Thomas doubt if Jordan will be able to get funding for the nuclear project due to the low credit ratings of the country. And he worries whether he will have comments and design the appropriate plant safety.
"They have not the slightest chance to reach their deadline of 2020," he said.
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