Renewed Calls To Close Metsamor Nuclear Power Station

Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 8 Issue: 77
April 20, 2011 06:41 PM Age: 15 days
By: Fariz Ismailzade

After the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and its disastrous impact on the Fukushima nuclear plant, the international community is once again raising concern about the Metsamor Nuclear Power station in Armenia. On April 11, National Geographic ran a powerful story, entitled “Is Armenia’s Nuclear Plant the World’s Most Dangerous?” (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2011/04/110412-most-dangerous-nuclear-plant-armenia/). The article cited the European Union’s envoy as calling the facility "a danger to the entire region" and the United States government, calling the plant "aging and dangerous." The forty year old plant is the only one of five first-generation water-moderated Soviet units that is located in the seismic zone. Despite the fact that it is long past its retirement age, the Armenian government refuses to shut it down. In 2004, it even refused the EU’s offer of a 200 million Euros ($289 million) loan to finance its closure. The magazine interviewed Antonia Wenisch of the Austrian Institute of Applied Ecology in Vienna, who calls Metsamor “among the most dangerous” nuclear plants still in operation.  Read more...