NUCLEAR PLANT CLOSURE ‘PRECONDITION’ FOR CLOSER TIES WITH EU
By Astghik Bedevian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Oct 31 2006

The closure of the nuclear power plant at Metsamor is a precondition
for the deepening of Armenia’s links with the European Union under
the bloc’s European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) program, Trade and
Economic Development Minister Karen Chshmaritian said Tuesday.

Chshmaritian said the matter is included in Armenia’s plan of
ENP-related actions which is due to be signed by Armenian and EU
officials in Brussels on November 13. The document calls for more
political and economic reforms that would entitle Yerevan to a
privileged partnership with the 25-nation union.

Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja of Finland, which currently holds the
EU’s rotating presidency, and his Armenian counterpart Vartan Oskanian
said on October 2 that successful implementation of the action plan
would have far-reaching implications. In a joint statement issued
after their talks in Yerevan, they said Armenia’s ties with the EU
would go "beyond cooperation" and involve a "significant measure of
economic integration."

The decommissioning of Metsamor’s sole reactor has always been high
on the agenda of the EU’s dealings with Armenia. The EU believes that
the facility is inherently unsafe because of its Soviet design and
location in a seismically active zone.

The Armenian authorities dismiss those concerns. They insist that the
plant, which meets almost 40 percent of Armenia’s electricity needs,
is safe enough to remain operational until 2016. European government
seem to have come to terms with this tentative decommissioning date.

Earlier this year the Armenian government announced its intention to
replace Metsamor by another, more modern nuclear plant over the next
decade and look for foreign investors interested in financing its
construction estimated to cost at least $1 billion. U.S. reaction
to the extremely ambitious project has been lukewarm, with a senior
State Department official suggesting last May that there are "probably
better alternatives" to it.

According to Chshmaritian, no EU country has expressed the readiness
so far to assist in the project’s implementation.