Israel to stop Jordanian Nuclear Power?

[Silurian]

From the BBC

In a lengthy interview in The Wall Street Journal, King Abdullah strongly criticised Israel for what he said were its efforts to persuade potential suppliers to abandon plans to sell Jordan nuclear power generating reactors, something Israel denies.

He said Israel's "underhanded" actions have helped bring Jordan-Israeli relations to their lowest point since a 1994 peace agreement.

"There are countries, Israel in particular, that are more worried about us being economically independent than the issue of nuclear energy," King Abdullah said. "There are many such reactors in the world and a lot more coming, so [the Israelis must] go mind their own business."

Jordan has uranium deposits. It wants US contractors to build it a nuclear power station. The fuel would come from its own uranium which it would process in Jordan.

Why should anyone object?

 

[civ_king]

They are explicitly buying Nuclear Reactors, this seems very peaceful

 

[Pacifist46]

Israel might fear that, with the new power supply, businesses might invest there instead of in Israel.

Then there's nukes, but I don't see it happening in Jordan.

Or maybe Israel doesn't want a nuclear power plant, built on its borders which could have an accident and spread radiation throughout Israeli lands, which is out of its control.

Just throwing out suggestions. Personally I agree with the original question.

 

[Silurian]

They are explicitly buying Nuclear Reactors, this seems very peaceful

Maybe from France or South Korea

They do not want to be dependant on oil imports

 

[Tee Kay]

Or maybe Israel doesn't want a nuclear power plant, built on its borders which could have an accident and spread radiation throughout Israeli lands, which is out of its control.

Then Israel should bring it up in diplomatic negotiations with Jordan, not doing back door deals with contractors.

 

[amadeus]

Jordan should be thankful that Israel is helping Jordan improve its economy by being prevented from inviting in a cost-inefficient form of power generation.

 

[Silurian]

amadeus@

Not better to produce 30% of its electricity from its own uranium rather than import oil to burn then.

 

[Ekolite]

To be honest I think Israel is purposefully antagonising the muslim middle east now.

 

[Formaldehyde]

That is the crux of the problem. Israel has rarely thought about the repercussions of their foreign policy decisions any more than the US has. They really haven't had to with the US there to deflect any international criticism.

It also highlights that with the reactors of other Muslim countries it has unilaterally attacked, and even assassinated their scientists, it really has nothing to do with supposed support of terrorists or their public hatred of Israel. Israel knows all to well from their own experience that it is all too easy to covertly develop nuclear weapons once you have access to nuclear power technology, so any Muslim country which has nuclear power plants is perceived as being a threat.

 

[amadeus]

amadeus@

Not better to produce 30% of its electricity from its own uranium rather than import oil to burn then.

Yep! The majority of costs incurred in nuclear power generation aren't from the uranium, it's from everything else. Coal, oil, and gas are still cheaper per kilowatt hour.

Of course, I don't actually endorse Israel trying to undermine Jordan's attempts to build an expensive luxury in a country where the per capita income is less than one-fifth of its Jewish neighbor, I just think it's ridiculous to waste money on these kinds of pet projects in countries that by-and-large don't have the resources to support them. Jordan would be better-served exporting the uranium and importing coal or natural gas.

 

[Silurian]

Yep! The majority of costs incurred in nuclear power generation aren't from the uranium, it's from everything else. Coal, oil, and gas are still cheaper per kilowatt hour.

Of course, I don't actually endorse Israel trying to undermine Jordan's attempts to build an expensive luxury in a country where the per capita income is less than one-fifth of its Jewish neighbor, I just think it's ridiculous to waste money on these kinds of pet projects in countries that by-and-large don't have the resources to support them. Jordan would be better-served exporting the uranium and importing coal or natural gas.

The economics of nuclear power are debatable but the cost of oil and gas will not be going down in the long term.

The construction of a nuclear power plant and fuel processing facility would also help the mechanical engineering industry in Jordan which could have export spin offs.

Setting up the infrastructure to import coal would be very expensive and would cause problems with CO2 reduction treaty obligations.

 

[JohnRM]

I don't feel that there is any threat from Jordan obtaining nuclear power.

More power to them. [Bleep] Israel.

 

[Nomnomnom]

I really hope Israel gets a swift kick in the pants one day. They are one of the biggest bullies around these days xD

 

[Rumilus]

I really love the hate towards the Jewish state over an interview. What did the evil Jews actually do this time?

 

[Formaldehyde]

So, any completely justifiable criticism of Israel must be anti-Semitic?

 

[Rumilus]

So, any completely justifiable criticism of Israel must be anti-Semitic?

- open hostility towards the Jewish state
- lack of any criticism towards the source (compare this with the criticism towards anything coming from Israeli or Jewish sources)
- lack of knowledge over what Israel or Israeli companies actually did doesn't seem to prevent jumping the gun

Yea, I think I rather go with Godwin than justifiable criticism.

 

[Formaldehyde]

You mean an obvious propaganda campaign to try to discredit anybody who disagrees with them?

And, yes. Many Israelis and Jews think that current Israeli policies being represented by an obviously reactionary and bigoted prime minister are indeed abominable. To suggest otherwise is disingenuous at best.

 

[civ_king]

- open hostility towards the Jewish state
- lack of any criticism towards the source (compare this with the criticism towards anything coming from Israeli or Jewish sources)
- lack of knowledge over what Israel or Israeli companies actually did doesn't seem to prevent jumping the gun

Yea, I think I rather go with Godwin than justifiable criticism.

When is criticism of the secular state of Israel anti-Semitism?

 

[Silurian]

From The Independent

A spokesman from the Israeli Prime Minister's office declined to comment on the Jordanian claims

Rumilus@
Israel should say that it does not object to Jordan having nuclear power or it should object in public.

 

[Tee Kay]

Criticism of Israel is perfectly justified in this case.