AMMAN, Jordan - Jordan signed a $12 million deal Saturday with a Belgium-based company as it pushes forward with a plan to build the first nuclear power plant for the oil-barren desert kingdom.
The head of Jordan's Atomic Energy Commission, Khaled Toukan, signed the deal in Amman with Georges Cornet, the head of Tractebel Engineering, a French-Belgian company.
Toukan said the company would first carry out a two-year environmental impact study to determine whether the planned location -- a desert area near the Saudi border about 15 miles (25 kilometers) south of the Red Sea port of Aqaba -- is in fact the best location for protecting "both public health and the environment."
In January 2007, the country's ruler, King Abdullah II, announced his intention to develop a peaceful nuclear program, a plan that has U.S. backing. More >>>
