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Energy Minister Says New Nuclear Plant 'An Option' For Armenia
By Gevorg Stamboltsian 10/06/2004 01:06
Radio Free Europe, Czech rep.
June 10 2004
Construction of a new nuclear power station is viewed by the Armenian
government as one of the possible alternatives to the aging atomic
plant at Metsamor, Energy Minister Armen Movsisian said on Wednesday.
"The construction of a new nuclear plant is also an alternative option
of new energy capacity. It is quite a competitive option," Movsisian
told journalists. He said the ambitious project can be implemented
with $1 billion demanded by the government from the European Union
in exchange for the closure of the Metsamor plant. The EU has so
far offered to pay only 100 million euros ($123 million) to finance
the plant's decommissioning. The bloc and its member states point to
Yerevan's past promise to shut it down by 2004. They say Armenia's
mountainous territory is too earthquake-prone to have safely operating
nuclear plants.
Yerevan insists that the proposed financial grant is nowhere near
enough to substitute for the Soviet-era facility that meets about
40 percent of the country's energy needs. "They say that they will
give 100 million. But it is impossible to close the atomic station
and create alternative sources [of power] with that money," Prime
Minister Andranik Markarian said in separate comments.
However, Markarian made no mention of a new nuclear plant when he
listed possible alternatives to Metsamor. He spoke in particular of
the need to use Armenia's great potential for hydro-electric power
generation. He stressed the importance of a big hydro-electric power
plant which Armenia plans to build jointly with neighboring Iran on
the Arax river separating the two countries.
The government also intends to build dozens of small plants across
the country which is rich in fast-flowing mountainous rivers.
Officials say a state-owned German bank, KfW, is expected to provide
30 million euros in loans for that purpose next year. Incidentally,
Markarian and Movsisian spoke in the eastern Gegharkunik during the
official inauguration of a new major electricity transmission station
built there with KfW's financial assistance.
By Gevorg Stamboltsian 10/06/2004 01:06
Radio Free Europe, Czech rep.
June 10 2004
Construction of a new nuclear power station is viewed by the Armenian
government as one of the possible alternatives to the aging atomic
plant at Metsamor, Energy Minister Armen Movsisian said on Wednesday.
"The construction of a new nuclear plant is also an alternative option
of new energy capacity. It is quite a competitive option," Movsisian
told journalists. He said the ambitious project can be implemented
with $1 billion demanded by the government from the European Union
in exchange for the closure of the Metsamor plant. The EU has so
far offered to pay only 100 million euros ($123 million) to finance
the plant's decommissioning. The bloc and its member states point to
Yerevan's past promise to shut it down by 2004. They say Armenia's
mountainous territory is too earthquake-prone to have safely operating
nuclear plants.
Yerevan insists that the proposed financial grant is nowhere near
enough to substitute for the Soviet-era facility that meets about
40 percent of the country's energy needs. "They say that they will
give 100 million. But it is impossible to close the atomic station
and create alternative sources [of power] with that money," Prime
Minister Andranik Markarian said in separate comments.
However, Markarian made no mention of a new nuclear plant when he
listed possible alternatives to Metsamor. He spoke in particular of
the need to use Armenia's great potential for hydro-electric power
generation. He stressed the importance of a big hydro-electric power
plant which Armenia plans to build jointly with neighboring Iran on
the Arax river separating the two countries.
The government also intends to build dozens of small plants across
the country which is rich in fast-flowing mountainous rivers.
Officials say a state-owned German bank, KfW, is expected to provide
30 million euros in loans for that purpose next year. Incidentally,
Markarian and Movsisian spoke in the eastern Gegharkunik during the
official inauguration of a new major electricity transmission station
built there with KfW's financial assistance.