Jordan nuclear contract held up by U.S. curbs - sources

Washington's refusal to let Jordan exploit its own uranium deposits to make nuclear fuel has held up nuclear cooperation talks and the two sides are a long way from any contract, sources close to the negotiations said on Friday. An accord on nuclear cooperation with the United States would help Jordan launch a civilian nuclear programme and meet a goal of generating 30 percent of its energy needs through nuclear power by 2030.

But the Jordanian sources said in the last year of talks Washington refused to allow Jordan to manufacture its own nuclear fuel, a right which the close U.S. ally insists it is entitled to as a party of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). "Although there is enlarged understanding of our view, the gap remains wide, but we are in ongoing talks. We still have a long way ahead of us before reaching an accord," said one source familiar with the latest round of discussions final month.

Jordan has exposed promising deposits of uranium an estimated 65,000 tonnes so far that it hopes to mine commercially for home use and for export. It has signed nuclear cooperation agreements with eight countries, including France, China and Russia, to expand a civilian nuclear programme and reduce its reliance on oil imports that cost 20 percent of its gross domestic product.