ARMENIA ON SHAKY GROUND WITH NUCLEAR PLANT: EU

Russia Today, Russia
May 1 2008

Armenia is facing a power crisis as it is due to replace its only
nuclear power station by 2016. Metsamor nuclear plant is vital to
the country’s power needs. EU officials, though, consider it not
only obsolete, but also dangerous due to its location in an active
earthquake zone.

Built in 1979, the plant provides more than 40 per cent of Armenia’s
electricity. But, situated as it is in a highly active earthquake zone,
some say the it casts an ominous shadow over the fertile Ararat valley.

Following a devastating earthquake in 1988, the plant was closed,
but a massive energy shortage in the 1990s saw Metsamor re-opened in
1995. Ever since then, Armenian environmentalists have hoped to see
it decommissioned for good.

"The Armenian nuclear plant is located at the intersection of several
major fault lines. According to some data, the main fault is just 500
metres away from the reactor. This is extremely dangerous and totally
goes against all the norms of nuclear power plant construction,"
environmentalist campaigner Hakob Sanasaryan explained.

The European Union is also deeply opposed to the continued operation
of the plant. Not only do EU officials consider all nuclear reactors
of this vintage to be obsolete and dangerous, but they also say
that any nuclear facility in such an active earthquake zone is an
unnecessary risk.

Armenian officials brush off these concerns. They point out that, not
only does the plant have certification from the IAEA, but that much
has been done to improve safety since it was built in the late 1970s.

Gagik Markosyan, General Director of Metsamor, says that even in 1988,
at the time of the Spital earthquake, the nuclear power plant continued
to work well.

The current reactor at Metsamor will finally come to the end of its
life in 2016. Though the EU has offered Armenia 200 million euros to
look for alternative sources of energy, the country has no natural
resources of its own.

Experts say that in a world of rising fuel costs nuclear energy is
the only way Armenia can meet its power needs.

The country’s energy ministry is now looking for foreign companies
to assist them with the construction of the new plant. They insist
the new station will satisfy both Armenia’s demand for electricity
and the safety concerns of sceptics at home and abroad.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress