ARMENIAN PROMISES TO CLOSE SOVIET-ERA NUCLEAR PLANT

The Associated Press
November 29, 2007 Thursday 7:08 PM GMT

Armenia approved a plan Thursday to shut down its lone nuclear power
plant, following years of pressure from foreign nations concerned
about its Soviet-era design and safety.

The government gave no date for closing the Medzamor reactor,
located about 30 kilometers (20 miles) west of the capital,
Yerevan. The 27-year-old plant, which supplies nearly half the
country’s electricity, ceased operations after a 1988 earthquake,
but was restarted during an energy shortage in 1995.

Since then, Armenia has been under constant pressure to close the
plant ahead of its 2016 operational end-life due to safety concerns
and possible design flaws. The European Union has pledged $295 million
in loans and other assistance to help close it.

The shutdown could cost up to $280 million, Energy Minister Armen
Movsisian said.

Armenian officials have long refused to shut it without another source
of electricity.

Last week, the United States said it would fund a preliminary
feasibility study on building a new nuclear plant.

President Robert Kocharian has said that building a new, 1,000-megawatt
plant double that of Medzamor would cost more than $3 billion.

In 2004, Russia’s state-run electricity grid operator, RAO Unified
Energy Systems, assumed financial control of Medzamor in a deal struck
to relieve Armenia’s massive debts to Russian energy suppliers. UES
and Armenia now share management of the plant.