Armenia will consider a project on cooperation in nuclear energy with Jordan on Thursday, News Armenia reports.
The project will be presented by the Armenian Ministry for Energy and Natural Resources. Armenia and Jordan plan to cooperate in the construction of nuclear energy blocks, their exploitation and improvements, processing and preservation of nuclear waste, use of nuclear materials in medicine, industry and agriculture, exchange experience in staff training and research.
Nuclear cooperation will be based on UN principles of nuclear non-proliferation. The initiative to sign the document comes from Jordan.
Armenia has one nuclear plant. It is located at Metsamor, about 30-40 km west of Yerevan. The power plant has been exploited since 1976, with only the second power block operating with an output of 407.5 MW (40-50% of total electricity in the country). Armenia plans to build a new power plant to replace the old one. It is expected to have one power block with an output of 1000 MW. The project is worth $5-6 billion. Armenian Minister for Energy and natural Resources Armen Movsisyan said that construction would start in mid-2013.
