Costs and terms of NPP construction in Jordan to be defined by spring 2017 - Rosatom

MOSCOW, August 25. /TASS/. The final terms and cost of the construction of a nuclear power plant in Jordan will become known by spring 2017, chief of Russia’s state-run corporation Rosatom Sergei Kiriyenko told reporters on Tuesday. In 2015-2017, the project’s pre-investment stage will take place. "Only at this stage /in spring of 2017/ the cost of the project and its final terms will become clear," the head of Rosatom said. He declined to comment on speculations about the cost of the project. According to the information obtained by TASS, on average, the construction of one power unit costs at least $5 billion. "We started in March 2015, respectively - in the spring of 2017 the feasibility study and implementation plan will be completed. After that the government of Jordan is to make a decision /on the project -TASS/ and in accordance with this decision the value and the final terms of attracting investors will be defined, and perhaps some investors will be defined as well," Kiriyenko said. Russia’s Rosatom won a tender for the construction of a nuclear plant in Jordan in November 2013, having outstripped the Japanese-French consortium Mitsubishi Heavy Industries - Areva. In late September, the two countries signed a pre-investment agreement on the project. Overall investments in the construction of a nuclear plant in Jordan are estimated at ten billion U.S. dollars. In March Jordan and Russia signed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the construction of the nuclear power plant. The sides are now looking at setting up a joint venture to implement this project. Jordan is supposed to hold a 51 percent stake, and Rosatom /or its subsidiary/ - a 49 percent stake. Rosatom is using such financing scheme in the Finnish project Hanhikivi-1 NPP, where it holds 34 percent of shares. The would-be nuclear plant will satisfy Jordan’s entire electricity demand and give a possibility to export electricity to other countries - Syria and Iraq. The nuclear plant will have two power units with a capacity of 1,000 megawatt each. The first unit is to be commissioned in 2024, and the second one - in 2026. This project is seen as the biggest one in the entire history of Russia-Jordan relations. Read more