Agence France Presse — English
May 25, 2005 Wednesday 5:39 PM GMT
Armenia to build new depot for nuclear waste
YEREVAN
The Armenian parliament on Wednesday approved the construction of a
new storage site for nuclear waste from the Metsamor power station,
which will be operational for 50 years.
The waste depot will be built in three stages, starting in 2007, and
cost about 10 million euros (12.6 million dollars), according to the
Armenian energy minister, Armen Movsissian.
The first waste storage site, built in 2000 by the French company
Framatome, is full.
Armenia has rejected calls from the European Union to close its only
nuclear power plant, which supplies 40 percent of the country’s
energy needs.
The Metsamor plant built in 1977 had to be shut down in 1988 when an
earthquake devastated Armenia. The plant was reopened in 1995.