The MoU, which was signed on 29 June, is a precursor to a cooperation agreement which Amman and London will conclude before the end of the year.

The agreement was announced at a press conference hosted by Khaled Toukan, chairman of the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission, and Barbara Judge, chairman of the UK Atomic Energy Authority.

The memorandum covers co-operation in the fields of staff development, nuclear safety, and electricity and water production using nuclear power.

Jordan signed a similar deal with Canada a day earlier and is due to conclude nuclear cooperation agreements with China and the US in July. Jordan plans to meet 30 per cent of its power needs from nuclear energy by 2030 (MEED 6:6:08).