A South Korean consortium signed an agreement on Tuesday to build Jordan's first nuclear reactor in a project worth 130 million dollars, state media in the Arab kingdom reported.
Under the deal, the state-run Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute and Daewoo Engineering and Construction Co. are to construct the reactor at the Jordan University for Sciences and Technology near the northern city of Irbid, Petra news agency said.
Prime Minister Samir Rifai was cited as saying at the signing ceremony that the five-megawatt research reactor would be the "mainstay of Jordan's peaceful nuclear programme."
The reactor was slated for completion by 2014 and would become operational the next year following extensive safety tests, said Jordan Atomic Energy Commission chief Khaled Tukan, who signed the deal.
It would serve as a training facility for Jordanian nuclear staff, he told Petra, adding his commission would contribute 60 million dollars towards the overall cost with the rest made up by a South Korean government loan.
The South Korean consortium won the right to the project in December when it was selected the preferred bidder ahead of companies from Argentina, China and Russia.
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