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Ammon News - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) document has classified Jordan's "SESAME Light: A Dream Becomes Real" project as a success story for the technical cooperation program between the Kingdom and the IAEA.

The IAEA document, entitled "Journeys to Success," included a set of success stories for technical cooperation programs offered to member states from Asia and the Pacific.

According to the IAEA document, Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East, (SESAME), "has become a reality," despite the financial and political difficulties it has faced, the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) has announced on Wednesday.

Launched in 2017, and viewed as a center for regional cooperation and advanced scientific research, SESAME began on July of 2018 to offer services to users from the Middle East countries to conduct their experiments, and represents the first source of synchrotron light in the Middle East region.

Since February 2019, the SESAME has become the world's first renewable energy accelerator, adding another milestone to its success journey, the document noted.
In another paper published by the IAEA Technical Cooperation Department, the Agency said Jordan has started production of the first radioactive isotope in 2019, in the Jordanian Nuclear Reactor for Research and Training, which was officially inaugurated in December 2016, where iodine-131 was produced to treat cancer patients.
Moreover, the first multi-purpose research reactor in Jordan with a 5-megawatt capacity was opened at the Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) in 2016, to provide research, education and training opportunities for researchers and students from the Kingdom's higher educational institutions.

In a press statement, Head of the JAEC, Dr. Khaled Toukan, said the commission is "keen" to strengthen the technical relationship with the IAEA, to benefit from its assistance to member states in the areas of peaceful uses of nuclear energy and technology, promote and develop radiation protection, nuclear safety and security, by providing equipment, and training scholarships and postgraduate studies in the field of nuclear technology, radiation protection, and relevant security.