No Country has the Right to Demand Armenian Nuclear Power Plant Cease Operations: Expert

Chair of the RA State Nuclear Safety Regulatory Committee Ashot Martirosyan, meeting with journalists in Yerevan today, spoke of the safety levels of Armenia’s Nuclear Power Plant (ANPP).

Martirosyan said that after the Fukushima nuclear accident, the nuclear community, including the Western European Nuclear Regulatory Association (WENRA), developed a draft plan that proposes EU member states undergo a nuclear safety test. The ANPP will likewise apply these methods to check its own nuclear safety, Martirosyan continued. Note, the test includes the influence of external factors such as tsunamis, earthquake, floods.

“Naturally for the Armenian NPP an earthquake is [a] real [possibility]; it’s also possible to discuss the storm scenario. We discussed this issue with the plant’s management and in-depth analysis of the nuclear plant has already begun. This will last 3 months, after which the plant will present the results of its work,” he said.

From May 15 to Jun. 1, said Martirosyan, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expert group will observe and discuss on-site Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant’s safety status.

As for statements on the ANPP by Armenia’s neighboring states, Martirosyan said no country has the right to demand that another country cease operating its nuclear power plant.

The nuclear expert added that the Metsamor nuclear facility continues to work in accordance with operating procedures.

As reported earlier, Azerbaijan’s Prime Minister Artur Rasizade urged the international community to support the closure of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant.

The Metsamor NPP is the only nuclear power plant in the South Caucasus. Just a half-hour drive (30 km) from the Armenian capital, the Soviet-era nuclear power plant began operations in 1980 but closed in March 1989 following the Spitak earthquake. It was reopened in 1993 and operational since November 1995, following the energy crisis in the country. The Armenian nuclear power plant will cease operations by 2016. There are plans to construct a new power plant to replace Metsamor.