SERZH SARGSYAN: ARMENIA INTERESTED IN NEW NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.06.2007 15:14 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Government of Armenia is interested in construction
of a new nuclear power plant, Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan
stated on June 26. He said, currently this issue is in the situation
of its first stages, since financial sources and technologies of this
project are unknown.

About $240 million will be necessary to fully decommission the
acting Armenian (Metsamor) Nuclear Power Plant by the method of
"green lawn". According to technical requirements it expires in 2016,
but after signing the Action Plan of the European Neighborhood Program
Armenia undertook the obligation to close the above-mentioned acting
nuclear plant as soon as possible.

Answering the question posed by head of "Orinats Yerkir" opposition
faction Arthur Baghdasaryan if the newly built Iran-Armenia gas
pipeline will be used as transit one, Serzh Sargsyan stated that the
major goal of building the second line of the Iran-Armenia gas-main is
to increase its capacity. He said, it does not mean that the pipeline
will be autonomous or will become a transit line or provide transit
opportunities. "However, in case of such proposals we are ready to
study them," Serzh Sargsyan stated, adding that it is connected with
various problems "and first of all financial". Among problematic
aspects the Premier underlined those, such as "who will agree to
invest money and what guarantees will be proposed", IA Regnum reports.