ARMENIA APPROVES EXPANSION OF NUCLEAR PLANT (AFP)

Khaleej Times
Oct 27 2009
UAE

27 October 2009, YEREVAN – Armenia’s parliament on Tuesday approved
plans for the construction of a new reactor unit at the ex-Soviet
republic’s controversial Metzamor nuclear power station.

Lawmakers voted in favour of plans to build a new 1,200-megawatt
unit with a projected cost of four to five billion dollars (2.7 to
3.4 billion euros). Officials have said they expect the new reactor
to be completed by 2017.

Energy Minister Armen Movsisian told lawmakers the new reactor would
allow Armenia to increase electricity exports, a key source of revenues
for the landlocked and resource-poor country.

‘Armenia’s neighbours in the region have an energy deficit and Armenia
is the only country that can produce electric power, not only for
its own needs, but also for export,’ he said.

‘It must be emphasised that we are not talking about the construction
of a new nuclear power plant, but about the construction of a new
power unit,’ he added.

Armenia relies on the Soviet-built Metzamor plant, 30 kilometres
(18 miles) west of the capital Yerevan, for 40 percent of its
electricity needs.

Its current 407.5-megawatt power unit was brought online in 1976. The
plant is operated by an affiliate of state-owned Russian power
group UES.

The European Union has pleaded with Armenia to shut down the ageing
plant, which is in an area prone to earthquakes, and in 2004 offered
to provide 100 million euros in compensatory aid.

But Armenian officials say the country cannot afford to do without
the plant, which also provides electricity for export to Iran.

The nuclear plant was shut down temporarily in 1988 because of a
major earthquake, but resumed operating in 1995 to help stave off a
national energy crisis.