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ARMENIAN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT CONSTITUTES NO THREAT: AUTHORITIES
Xinhua General News Service
March 15, 2011 Tuesday 1:16 AM EST
China
Nuclear energy authorities of Armenia on Tuesday assured the public
that the country's nuclear power plant is operating in normal
exploitation regime and therefore constitutes no safety threat to
the country or the region.
Ashot Martirosyan, chief of the Armenian state committee for nuclear
security, told local media that there is no need for additional
safety control, as the emergency situation at the Fukushima nuclear
power plant in Japan has made Armenian specialists more careful and
attentive to the country's own nuclear power plant.
Apart from the routine observations by Russian, European and American
experts, Martirosyan said, the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) will send German experts in April to check on the Armenian
nuclear power plant.
Known as Metsamor, the Armenian nuclear power plant was built in 1976
some 30 kilometers west of the country's capital Yerevan.
The Metsamor nuclear plant was closed down due to the 1988 7.2-
magnitude earthquake in the country, but was re-opened in 1993 due
to an acute electricity shortage. One of the two Metsamor nuclear
reactors was brought back into operation in 1995 and is now expected
to be phased out of operation in 2016.
The authorities of Armenia formally agreed in 2007 to close down
the Metsamor plant after several years of pressure from the European
Union and the United States, which allege that the nuclear plant has
inherent safety issues. The European Union has reportedly classified
the Metsamor light water-cooled reactors as the "oldest and least
reliable" reactors of all the 66 Soviet reactors built in Eastern
Europe and the former Soviet republics.
The Metsamor plant now produces 40 percent of Armenia's electricity.
Armenia is currently mulling the construction of a new nuclear power
plant of either 1,000 or 1,200 megawatts.
Global concerns about nuclear safety were sparked by last Friday's
9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which caused explosions
and exposure of the radioactive materials at the Fukushima nuclear
power plant.
From: A. Papazian
Xinhua General News Service
March 15, 2011 Tuesday 1:16 AM EST
China
Nuclear energy authorities of Armenia on Tuesday assured the public
that the country's nuclear power plant is operating in normal
exploitation regime and therefore constitutes no safety threat to
the country or the region.
Ashot Martirosyan, chief of the Armenian state committee for nuclear
security, told local media that there is no need for additional
safety control, as the emergency situation at the Fukushima nuclear
power plant in Japan has made Armenian specialists more careful and
attentive to the country's own nuclear power plant.
Apart from the routine observations by Russian, European and American
experts, Martirosyan said, the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) will send German experts in April to check on the Armenian
nuclear power plant.
Known as Metsamor, the Armenian nuclear power plant was built in 1976
some 30 kilometers west of the country's capital Yerevan.
The Metsamor nuclear plant was closed down due to the 1988 7.2-
magnitude earthquake in the country, but was re-opened in 1993 due
to an acute electricity shortage. One of the two Metsamor nuclear
reactors was brought back into operation in 1995 and is now expected
to be phased out of operation in 2016.
The authorities of Armenia formally agreed in 2007 to close down
the Metsamor plant after several years of pressure from the European
Union and the United States, which allege that the nuclear plant has
inherent safety issues. The European Union has reportedly classified
the Metsamor light water-cooled reactors as the "oldest and least
reliable" reactors of all the 66 Soviet reactors built in Eastern
Europe and the former Soviet republics.
The Metsamor plant now produces 40 percent of Armenia's electricity.
Armenia is currently mulling the construction of a new nuclear power
plant of either 1,000 or 1,200 megawatts.
Global concerns about nuclear safety were sparked by last Friday's
9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which caused explosions
and exposure of the radioactive materials at the Fukushima nuclear
power plant.
From: A. Papazian