ARMENIA SET TO SEARCH FOR URANIUM MINES

Arminfo, Yerevan
6 Feb 07

Yerevan, 6 February: Serious work on the search for uranium mines has
started in Armenia, Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisyan has said
in the National Assembly.

He said uranium is necessary to ensure that the Armenian Nuclear
Power Station [ANPS] has necessary volume of fuel. It is necessary
to acquire 150 tonne of nuclear fuel for needs of the ANPS. Today
the country has all necessary preconditions not only to resolve this
issue at the spot but export uranium as well. The implementation of
the project will allow to reduce Armenia’s dependence on supply of
this fuel by several times.

As Movsisyan said, Russia is currently experiencing a deficit of 6,000
tonne of uranium, other countries have also faced with the problem
of the uranium deficit. The minister said that Armenia is one of the
few states of the world possessing a surplus of uranium.

At the same time, he noted that the issue is not about processing
uranium in Armenia. It will be send for processing to those countries
which has appropriate experience. With the implementation of this
project, there will be a need for the construction of a new nuclear
power station in Armenia which will meet the world standards.

To recap, two Russian companies, the names of which have not yet
been disclosed, have recently appealed to Rosenergoatom requesting
authorization to search for uranium mines in Armenia and study the
archives of the Soviet times concerning this project.