No Serious Threat to Armenian Nuclear Facility Even in 8 Magnitude Earthquake: Expert

If Armenia were to experience an earthquake measuring 7 on the Richter scale, the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant (MNPP) wouldn’t be damaged and would continue to work as per schedule, said Chair of the RA State Nuclear Safety Regulatory Committee Ashot Martirosyan, meeting with journalists in Yerevan today.

“In the event of an earthquake with a magnitude of 8, all of the nuclear facility’s safety systems will be operational, they will ensure the reactor’s safe termination. In this case, from the safety angle, it’s likely that some unimportant structures will collapse and crack, but they won’t have an effect on the plant’s safety,” he said.

Martirosyan added that prior to reopening the plant in 1995, additional seismic studies were conducted on the areas adjacent to the MNPP, as a result of which the nuclear facility’s seismic stability was further strengthened.