Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - The 12th Amman Security Colloquium, organized by the Amman-based Arab Institute for Security Studies, kicked off on Wednesday at the University of Jordan, in cooperation with world governments and organizations.

The event discusses a host of issues, primarily the Middle East conflicts, and weapons of mass destruction among other key topics.

Speaking to the forum, Chairman of the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) Khaled Touqan, said Jordan, which signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Additional Protocol to the NPT, was a "good" example of implementing its peaceful nuclear energy program in an open and transparent manner in full coordination with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Jordan had taken strict measures to ensure compliance with all national and international standards governing nuclear safety and security in all its nuclear activities, he pointed out.

Touqan said Jordan has achieved several stages on its way to develop its national nuclear energy program, adding the completion of Jordan Research and Training Reactor(JRTR) was a major achievement, which represents our current vision to serve the Kingdom and the Middle East as a whole.

Since its entry into service last year, the research reactor was used as a focal point for the rehabilitation and training of engineers and specialists in various fields of nuclear science and technology, he said.

Radioisotopes and pharmaceuticals will be provided next month, which will be produced by the reactor in nuclear medicine departments at Jordanian hospitals, he announced.

The reactor, he said, will be made available to researchers through the operation of the laboratory to analyze neutron activation to provide services to the industrial, environmental, and mining sectors, in addition to providing training for nuclear engineering students, while work is underway on the construction of neutron beam lines.

As for the Jordan's uranium project, Toukan cited progress in the improvement of the classification of uranium resources in central Jordan to the "measured" category, and the completion of designing a pilot plant to extract uranium and start actual electromechanical operation and automation.

Toukan said the US Nuclear Energy Commission is currently conducting a feasibility study to build reactors with small units in Jordan for the production of electricity and water desalination, pointing out many agreements have been signed on joint feasibility studies between the JAEC and several international nuclear suppliers.

He said Jordan would continue to seek nuclear energy as a part of the energy mix, as it remains a clean source of carbon-free energy and a competitive and stable option for generating electricity.

He said the Israeli nuclear weapons program continued to be the source of proliferation of nuclear weapons in the region and the most serious threat to security, adding the nuclear non-proliferation rule should be applied universally and without exception.

As a result of Israel's continued refusal to accede to the NPT, peace and security in the Middle East remains "elusive," and, Israel's nuclear capability will trigger a possible nuclear arms race in the Middle East, he pointed out.