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ANKARA: Armenia clears way for new nuke plant

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  • ANKARA: Armenia clears way for new nuke plant

    Hurriyet, Turkey
    Jan 7 2010

    Armenia clears way for new nuke plant

    Thursday, January 7, 2010
    YEREVAN ` Daily News with wires


    Armenia cleared the way for a new nuclear power plant, despite green
    groups' objections that its location could put the capital, Yerevan,
    at risk. Earlier this month, the government approved the creation of
    Atomstroyexport, a Russian company that will own the station.

    `Today we are making a political decision, we are giving our agreement
    to the creation of a joint venture with our Russian partners,' said
    Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian on Dec. 3. Armenia plans to finish the
    new generating unit by 2016, and it will replace the Metsamor plant,
    which produces 40 percent of the country's power but is nearing the
    end of its life. Without the nuclear plant, Armenia would be largely
    dependent on gas imported from Russia or Iran.

    `The new nuclear power station will secure Armenia in terms of its
    energy system. A nuclear reactor is necessary as an energy resource
    that can ensure the self-sufficiency of the country,' said Sevak
    Sarukhanyan, an economist and deputy director of the Noravank think
    tank. Sarkisian said the new station was crucial to efforts to revive
    Armenia's economy, which has suffered both from the post-Soviet
    collapse and the blockade imposed by Azerbaijan and Turkey. `If we do
    not build the nuclear power station now, of course, our competitive
    position will significantly worsen,' he said.

    The construction of the plant will take five or six years, and it
    should have a working life of 60 years, which will guarantee Armenia's
    electricity supply for long into the future. Ecological groups,
    however, remain strongly opposed to the plans. Hakob Manasaryan, head
    of the Union of Greens, said the government did not explore other
    energy options in its rush to approve a new nuclear plant. He worried
    that Armenia, which is prone to earthquakes, could see a disaster such
    as the one that struck Ukraine's Chernobyl reactor 23 years ago.

    `I have the impression that the officials are thinking only of the
    next 15 or 20 years. A new structure, with a capacity of 1,200
    megawatts should be at least 100 to 150 kilometers from big cities.
    The existing Metsamor station, located just 20 km in a straight line
    from the capital, does not even meet this condition,' he said. `There
    is not one safe working reactor. Of course it is good if it is
    super-modern, which means, it is less dangerous, but who can vouch for
    that? And with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts, the consequences of the
    risk could be more significant. The construction of a new reactor in
    the same place [as the Metsamor plant] is even more dangerous.'

    But Areg Galstyan, deputy energy and natural resources minister, said
    new reactors were built to far higher safety standards than
    Chernobyl-type nuclear power stations, mentioning that the ecologists
    had nothing to worry about. The Metsamor power station sits in the
    Ararat Valley, in the very heart of Armenia, and is surrounded by the
    towns of Armavir, Echmiadzin and Metsamor. Its first unit started
    producing power in 1976, and the second in 1980.
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