Exim invests $12.8M in nuclear plant

Korea Export-Import Bank (Exim) will invest $12.8 million in the construction of a nuclear reactor for research purposes in Jordan, the company announced on Thursday.

EximBank said it has signed a deal with Jordan’s Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Najib Fakhoury, to provide additional funding as the reactor requires extra features to meet heightened international safety standards.

EximBank invested $70 million in the project in 2010. The investment follows President Park Geun-hye’s visit to the Middle East country, where she agreed to provide additional finances for the 5 megawatt Jordan Research and Training Reactor that a consortium of Daewoo E&C and the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute won in 2009.

The reactor, scheduled to be completed by June next year, is located at Ar Ramtha, 70 kilometers north of the country’s capital Amman.

It is the first time Korea has won the contract for the construction of a complete nuclear reactor overseas.

“The agreement today will further strengthen the friendly relationship between the two countries and we hope that it will lead to increasing economic cooperation,” said Lim Sung-hyun, EximBank’s vice president.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]