EU INSISTS ON CLOSURE OF ARMENIAN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

EurasiaNet, NY
Editor’s Note: Source: Arminfo, Yerevan, in Russian 1009 gmt 25 Sep 07
Sept 26 2007

Yerevan, 25 September: Euroatom is ready to provide Armenia with a 200m
euro preferential loan to close down the Armenian nuclear power plant,
Gunnar Wiegand, the acting director of the general directorate of
the European Commission on External Affairs for Eastern Europe, South
Caucasus and Central Asia said at a news conference in Yerevan today.

He said that the issue of shutting down the Armenian nuclear
power plant was discussed today during the eighth session of
the Armenia-European Union Cooperation Committee. He said that the
European Union continues to insist on the soonest closure of the plant
in Armenia based on security considerations, as it [the plant] was
built back in Soviet times and does not comply with the contemporary
nuclear security requirements.

Wiegand said that the loan will be a targeted one and cannot be used
for building a new nuclear power plant in Armenia.

He believes that alternative sources of power should be created in
the republic before the nuclear power plant is closed down, and the
EU welcomes the Armenian government’s policy of diversifying sources
of electricity.

Asked by an Arminfo correspondent about the EU’s position on the
Armenian government’s intention to build a new nuclear power plant,
Wiegand said that the EU is concerned with security issues in the
region, but is not ready to stimulate the implementation of a project
on the construction of a new nuclear plant.

Previously, the EU said it was ready to provide a 100m euro grant
for the closure of the Armenian nuclear power plant. The term of the
operation of the second power block of the Armenian nuclear power plant
expires in 2016. By that time, the Armenian government intends to build
a new contemporary nuclear power plant with a capacity of 1,000 MW.