The Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) and US-based reactor design and fuel fabrication company X-energy on 28 November signed a memorandum of understanding to assess X-energy's Xe-100 advanced nuclear reactor for possible deployment in Jordan.
As well as developing the Xe-100, a 76MW high-temperature gas-cooled pebble bed modular reactor, X-energy is also producing tristructural-isotropic-based fuel forms and will begin pilot manufacturing in 2018. These activities are supported by $40m in private investment and a five-year $53m US Department of Energy (DOE) cooperative agreement award. X-energy CEO Kam Ghaffarian said delivery of the Xe-100 for electricity, water desalination and other thermal applications in Jordan would represent a breakthrough for the advanced nuclear reactor industry.
JAEC chairman Khaled Touqan said, "The HTR's potential, once implemented, provides Jordan with opportunities that include both electric generation and non-electric utilisation such as water desalination and industrial applications." He went on to describe it the nexus between 3rd and 4th generation technologies
