The Kingdom of Jordan has signed a $10 billion deal with Russia to build its first nuclear power plant. Reuters reported Tuesday.

The deal, signed with Russia’s state-owned nuclear firm Rosatom, envisages the construction of a two-unit power plant at Amra in the north of the kingdom by 2022.

“The Russian technology we chose in a very competitive process suits Jordan’s needs in terms of power generation and the ability to produce electricity at very competitive prices,” Khaled Toukan, chairman of the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC), told a news conference.

The deal provides for a feasibility study, site evaluation process and an environmental impact assessment. Jordan hopes that eventually nuclear power could provide almost 40 percent of its total electricity generating capacity.

Russia was chosen as the supplier for Jordan’s first nuclear power plant in 2013. The first unit is scheduled for completion some time after 2022, and a second unit two years later.

The Jordanian deal was announced just two weeks after Saudi Arabia announced its own deal with South Korea to build its own nuclear reactors. Last month, Egypt signed a deal with Russia to build its first nuclear power plant with four reactors.

Last year, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed concern that allowing Iran to enrich uranium  “will trigger an arms race in the Middle East.”

In an analysis written for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Simon Henderson and Olli Heinonen warned:

U.S. wishes aside, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and perhaps even Jordan could make as plausible a case as Iran for building nuclear power plants. And from their perspective, if Iran is going to be allowed to enrich uranium and retain its nuclear-capable missiles — as they believe likely given Washington’s reported approach to the negotiations thus far — why shouldn’t they be permitted to acquire similar capabilities?

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