Armenia to construct third energy block
By Sabina Idayatova
Armenia is currently in talks over the construction of a third
energy block, Director of the Institute of Radiation Problems of
Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences Adil Garibov said on July
16.
According to Garibov, Russia plans to allocate loan for the construction of a new reactor with a capacity of 1,060 Megawatts at Metsamor NPP. At present, design work is underway. Construction of the reactor will be launched as soon as the credit is allocated.
The third block is considered to be more secure and the work is
planned to be realized with an absolutely new principle, Garibov
said.
However, Armenia has a water problem in terms of creating energy
blocks, he noted. Araz River's water is not sufficient to cool
reactors. International conventions also do not allow taking the
required amount of water from this river for the block's
activity.
"They have water reserves for the second block with a capacity of
1,060 Megawatt. But the source of water intake for cooling is still
topical for the activity of the third block," Garibov said.
"Armenia will never stop the activity of Metsamor, as NPP is a
strategic image for this country. Armenia's main goal is to become
a nuclear state," he believes.
According to Garibov, Armenia always presents itself as oppressed
country, and represents its people as poor and miserable just to
ground that it desires to possess nuclear objects for its
security.
"Armenia gets support from other states for this purpose," he
stressed. "But I suppose it is a wrong position, and can turn into
an uncontrolled situation at any time causing great problem for the
entire world. Look, how the world is concerned
about Iran and North Korea. Who knows what will happen if Armenia
follows the same path?"
According to the expert, Armenia will launch the production of
nuclear materials very soon which is sure to cause big
problems.
"Then its strength and position will be quite different. In this
case, the neighboring countries, in particular Azerbaijan, which is
in a state of war, should always take this into account and not
weaken strategic activities in this direction," Garibov said.
Armenia has only one operating nuclear reactor Metsamor NPP which
was built in 1970. After the devastating earthquake in Spitak in
1988 it was closed, but in 1995, the operation of the station was
resumed and a second reactor was launched despite international
criticism.
The nuclear power plant poses a serious threat to the security of the entire region, especially to the neighboring countries - Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Therefore, the three countries demand immediate shutdown of the plant in view of the danger.
According to environmentalists and scientists from all over the
region, seismic activity in the area renders Metsamor nuclear plant
an extreme risk even if a new generation reactor were to be built.
Given the large number of minor earthquakes in the area in the last
ten years, as well as the intensification of the seismic processes,
scientists predict that in the event of a major accident at
Metsamor, not only Armenia, but also other countries of the South
Caucasus and Middle East states would be severely affected.