Australian training for Jordan research reactor team

08 December 2015

Engineers from the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) have received training from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (Ansto) ahead of the start-up of Jordan's first research reactor.

JAEC_trainees _at_Ansto_(Ansto)_460
JAEC's Kafa Al-Khasawneh (centre) and Yasser Al Sejlawi (right) receive NAA training at Ansto (Image: Ansto)

Yasser Al Sejlawi and Kafa Al-Khasawneh received training from Ansto staff on all aspects of setting up and running a neutron activation analysis (NAA) laboratory. NAA is an analytical technique for measuring the concentration of elements in a material, using the radiation given off from radionuclides formed when a sample is irradiated with neutrons. Ansto completely renewed its NAA equipment when Ansto's Opal research reactor was commissioned in 2006.

Jordan's first nuclear reactor, the Jordan Research and Training Reactor (JRTR), is being built at the Jordan University for Science and Technology by a consortium led by the Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) with Daewoo. The 5 MWt reactor is based on version of Korea's 30 MWt Hanaro design, and is expected to start up in 2016 or 2017. The JRTR is a pool-type multipurpose research reactor similar to Opal.

Al Sejlawi and Al-Khasawneh's placements were awarded under the IAEA's Technical Cooperation Program.

Jordan plans to use nuclear power and earlier this year signed an intergovernmental agreement with Russia on cooperation in the construction and operation of the Middle Eastern country's first nuclear power plant.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News