Jordan, Indonesia look to cooperate in nuclear research

Jordan is expected to sign a memorandum of understanding with Indonesia in the next few months to pave the way for joint cooperation in nuclear research, according to Indonesian officials. Earlier this week, a delegation from the National Nuclear Energy Agency of Indonesia visited the Kingdom to hold talks with senior government officials from the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. The delegation, which included Adi Wardoyo, deputy chairman of Development of Nuclear Technology and Energy, and Djarot Wisnubroto, deputy chairman of Nuclear Material Cycle Technology and Engineering, also met with officials from the University of Jordan and the Jordan University of Science and Technology. "We have more than 40 years experience in the field of nuclear reactors for research purposes and we would like to offer the Jordanians our expertise to help them benefit from the advanced technology in developing important sectors such as agriculture and medicine," Wardoyo told The Jordan Times yesterday. He said the two sides also discussed the possibility of providing Jordan with Indonesian experts in the same field, to train their Jordanian counterparts in using this technology, adding that nuclear engineering programmes at Indonesian universities are very advanced by international standards. "We already have three nuclear research reactors in Indonesia, mainly used for medical purposes, fuel fabrication, and the development of the agricultural sector," Wisnubroto told The Jordan Times. "We are also interested in cooperating with the Jordanians by offering our expertise in the extraction of uranium from phosphoric acid, which is abundant in the Kingdom," he said, adding that the talks were “very constructive and promising”. Wardoyo noted that nuclear activities in Indonesia began with the establishment of the state committee for the investigation of radioactivity in 1954, which was assigned to investigate the possibility of radioactive fallout in Indonesian territories due to nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific Ocean. In 1965, the country’s first research reactor was inaugurated in Bandung, he said, adding that in order to improve mastery of nuclear science and technology, several research and development and engineering facilities were built, including the Nuclear Technology Research Centre of Pasar Jumat, Jakarta, in 1966, and the Nuclear Technology Research Centre of GAMA, Yogyakarta, in 1967, where the Kartini research reactor was then built in 1979.