Jordan's Energy Minister Khaled al-Shraydeh said on Saturday that his country has the uranium needed to develop its recently announced nuclear energy program, but still needs necessary legislation and technical personnel to implement the plan.

It's estimated that Jordan can extract 80,000 tons of uranium from its uranic ores, and the country's phosphate reserves also contain some 100,000 tons of uranium, al-Shraydeh was cited by the official Petra News Agency as saying.

Meanwhile, the minister said Jordan is willing to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency and wishes to win the nuclear watchdog's support.

In January, Jordan's King Abdullah II announced a civil nuclear energy program, saying the country was seeking an alternative energy to generate electricity and desalinate sea water.

Unlike its oil-rich neighbors, Jordan lacks energy resources. It depends on imports for 95 percent of its energy consumption, which costs the country 2.5 billion U.S. dollars, an estimated 23 percent of its GDP, alone in 2006.

Source: Xinhua