Jordan’s plan to set up a nuclear accelerator for regional scientific research is short of funds necessary for a jump-start, a European nuclear scientist said on Monday.
The Synchrotron Light for Experimental Science and Appliances for the Middle East (SESAME), a regional research center for peaceful purposes, requires $6 million for the project to become operational, Herwig Schopper, former director general of the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN), told the Jordan Times.
“We need the money for installation and modernization of a [German-donated] machine,” BESSY I, Schopper told the paper on the sidelines of the sixth meeting of the SESAME Interim Council held in Amman.
According to Jordan’s Minister of Education Khalid Touqan, the Balqa University for Applied Sciences is expected to host the project and has already prepared a “complete architectural plan and structural design calculations” for the laboratories that will accommodate BESSY I, a 10-year-old synchrotron source.
However, Schopper said financial resources were needed to upgrade BESSY I in order to realize a CERN-inspired scientific center in the region, specifically in the Shafa Badran area, around 30km from Amman.
By donating the BESSY I, Germany has helped ease expenses on member states because the machine's original cost is around $100 million, experts said.
Member of the council governing the project are Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Cyprus, Greece, France, Germany, the EU, US and Sweden, said the paper.
CERN was established after War World II to bring together European countries to work for peace, said Schopper.
Likewise, SESAME will be used to “promote the enhancement of `science for peace' [in the Middle East] and a new level of scientific progress in the area,” according to Touqan – Albawaba.com
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