Thursday, April 23, 2009

Touqan calls for Middle East free of nuclear weapons

Author:
Source: JNA (Jordan News Agency)
Date: 2009-04-23

Chairman of Jordan Nuclear Energy Commission (JNEC), Khaled Touqan, called on Monday for a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction.

Touqan, who was speaking in the opening session of the International Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Energy in the 21st Century currently held in Peijing, asked all countries in the region to commit to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) standards and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to reach a nuclear-weapon-free Middle East.

The top nuclear official briefed the conferees on the challenges facing the Kingdom's nuclear program, underlining its importance in providing Jordan with its energy demands, thanks for its huge reserves of uranium.

These challenges, he said, included high cost, unstable political situation in the Middle East, lack of qualified national staff and, limited locations to set up nuclear plants among others."

When developed, the nuclear plants would help the kingdom save energy cost," Touqan said, adding that 25 percent of the national budget went for imported energy and this negatively affected economic development in Jordan.

Touqan, who is leading the Jordanian delegation to the event, will hold a number of bilateral meetings with Chinese officials on the sidelines of the conference.

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