International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Yukia Amano on Sunday backed Jordan's endeavours to obtain nuclear know-how for peaceful purposes, saying Amman maintained "continuous and real cooperation" with the global watchdog, dpa reported.
Jordan was elected last month to the post of vice president of the IAEA Board of Governors.
"Jordan has made a headway in its nuclear programme. It strictly adheres to the IAEA safety criteria and has signed all agreements for ensuring safety at its nuclear reactors," Amano was quoted by the official Petra news agency as saying, after talks with Jordanian Energy Minister Khalid Touqan.
The IAEA director general said that nuclear energy had been "negatively affected" by the Fukushima nuclear incident in Japan, but many countries "will carry on with their nuclear programmes to utilize nuclear energy for the generation of electricity, provided that they learned the necessary lessons to raise their nuclear safety standards."
Touqan said that he briefed the IAEA chief on the details of the Jordanian nuclear programme for the production of electricity and water desalination, as well as on plans to produce uranium from Jordanian ores.
He said that he updated Amano on the site of the nuclear programme Jordan planned to build near Mafraq, 60 kilometres east of Amman, as well as on fuel supplies, safety measures and water resources for cooling the plant.
"Amano's visit is important particularly for those countries who plan to possess nuclear programmes," Touqan said.
Jordan has concluded nuclear cooperation agreements with 12 countries, but its endeavours to sign a similar accord with the United States apparently hit snags after Washington, under Israeli pressure, stipulated that Jordan refrain from producing uranium locally.
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