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Ankara: Parliament To Investigate Armenia's Controversial Nuclear Pl

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  • Ankara: Parliament To Investigate Armenia's Controversial Nuclear Pl

    PARLIAMENT TO INVESTIGATE ARMENIA'S CONTROVERSIAL NUCLEAR PLANT

    Today's Zaman
    May 14 2012
    Turkey

    A group of deputies submitted a joint proposal to the Office of the
    Speaker of Parliament last Wednesday to establish a commission to
    investigate the risks to Turkey posed by Armenia's controversial
    Metsamor nuclear power plant.

    Recalling that Armenia's Metsamor nuclear power plant is located 16
    kilometers from the Turkish border and very close to Turkey's eastern
    provinces of Igdır, Kars, Ardahan and Agrı, the proposal stated: "The
    plant is located in an earthquake zone. After a devastating earthquake
    in 1988 that caused 25,000 deaths, the plant was seriously damaged
    and it was leaking for the next three months. Armenian authorities
    shut it down, but it was reopened in 1993."

    In their proposal the deputies called on Armenia to shut down the plant
    for the safety of the region and added that Parliament should set
    up a parliamentary research commission to investigate the potential
    risks the nuclear power plant poses to Turkey's eastern provinces
    and the effects of the earthquake that hit southern Armenia in 1988
    on the plant and the region.

    Armenia's Metsamor nuclear power plant was built in the 1970s, but the
    technology installed at that time is no longer acceptable by modern
    safety standards. It was closed due to an earthquake in Armenia
    in 1988, but the Armenian government decided to reopen the damaged
    plant in 1993, citing an energy shortage in the country. Currently,
    Metsamor provides 45 percent of the country's electric consumption.

    The Metsamor nuclear power plant has been labeled by the European
    Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as one of
    the five most dangerous nuclear facilities in the world.

    In 1999, the EU sent a delegation to Yerevan to conduct an on-site
    inspection of the plant. Simultaneous investigations by the IAEA and
    the EU concluded that the plant should be immediately shut down.

    Before becoming a member of the European Council on Jan. 25, 2001,
    Armenia pledged to close the plant by 2004. In return, the EU would
    reimburse Armenia's losses by up to 100 million euros. Armenia found
    the EU's proposal insufficient and requested 1 billion euros instead.

    Later the EU increased its pressure and Armenia declared that it
    would not close the plant.

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