Zaman, Turkey
Feb 26 2005

Ankara Complains about Medzamor Power Plant to EU
By Foreign News Services
Published: Saturday 26, 2005
zaman.com

The Medzamor Nuclear power plant located 16 kilometers from the
Turkish-Armenian border is remarked to pose more of a threat to
Turkey.

Watching the developments closely, Ankara has concerns about a
possible Chernobyl like disaster at any time. The subject has also
been brought to the attention of the European Union (EU).

The “Armenia-1” and “Armeni-2” units in Medzamor, one of the five
most dangerous plants in the world, are reportedly having technical
problems. After these occurrences Ankara forwarded the matter to EU
and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Following that, the EU
once more called on Armenia to “shut down” the plant as it had in the
past. Armenia was not willing to comply with the shut down request,
as the plant provides 30 percent of the countries total energy
requirements. The Armenian capital Yerevan conveyed to Brussels that
it would run the station till 2016. Since the problem could not be
settled, the matter was then forwarded to the IAEA. The Medzamor
plant is built on the Eastern Anatolia Fault Line. The IAEA has also
decided to investigate this aspect of the situation. The activities
of the plant, which were seen as a” potential threat” following the
earthquake in Armenian’s Spitak region, have ceased. However, Armenia
had resumed activities in 1995 reasoning the energy crises following
the collapse of the Soviet Union. Armenia had shut down the Medzamor
plant for four months last year due to a high frequency current
problem in the electric transporting line.