ARMENIA INTERESTED IN BUILDING NEW NUKE PLANT – PM

ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
June 26, 2007 Tuesday

The Armenian government is interested in building a new nuclear power
plant, Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian told a parliamentary
meeting on Tuesday.

The issue is "still in an embryonic state, as financial sources as well
as technologies for the project’s implementation are still unknown,"
he said.

Armenia’s nuclear power plant was launched in 1979 and shut down
in 1989 after the devastating earthquake. In 1996 its second
power-generating unit resumed operation after Russian specialists
helped to reactivate it. The nuclear power plant accounts for 40
percent of Armenia’s total power generation.

The European Union insists that the nuclear power plant located
40 kilometres off Yerevan should be closed. Under the European
Neighbourhood Policy Armenia obliged to shut down the plant in the
shortest possible timeframe.

The Armenian authorities say the plant will be closed, if alternative
energy sources are found. On May 30, Armenian President Robert
Kocharian said the government will discuss the issue within upcoming
two months.

He believes that the plant’s construction is expedient from the point
of energy security and of economy.

"Russian specialists are ready to take part in the construction of
a second nuclear power plant in Armenia, if Armenia comes up with
such a proposal," Russian federal atomic energy agency chief Sergei
Kiriyenko said during his visit to Yerevan on April 23.