A South Korean consortium led by the state-run Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) will begin building Jordan's first nuclear research reactor next month, the government said Monday.
Construction of the five-megawatt Jordan Research and Training Reactor (JRTR) to start Sunday will mark the first time that Seoul builds a complete atomic research facility abroad, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said.
The KAERI-Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. consortium signed in mid-January a deal with the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission to build the
research reactor.
A research reactor is used to conduct various scientific and engineering studies, and can be designed for isotope production used for medical and industrial purposes. It can also be used to train nuclear-related experts, although it is not designed to generate electrical power for commercial use.
The ministry said the consortium expects the facility to be complete by the end of March 2015, when it will then be handed over to Jordan.
The project is estimated to be worth around 150 billion won (US$125.3 million), although government officials declined to revealed the exact size of the contract.
The JRTR, to be built at the Jordan University of Sciences and Technology, about 70 kilometers north of Amman, will be based on South Korea's 30 megawatt High-flux Advanced Neutron Application Reactor (HANARO) unit. The HANARO unit in Daejeon, some 160 kilometers south of Seoul, has been in operation since 1995.