Armenia keeps ignoring threat from Metsamor NPP
By Sara İsrafilbayova
For a long time, the states of the region - Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran, Georgia, as well as the European Union and most international organizations have been sounding the alarm because of the “time bomb” - the Metsamor NPP.
A number of scientists, ecologists and politicians have repeatedly stated that Chernobyl type of Metsamor NPP poses a threat to the entire region. However, Armenians assure that this power plant is completely safe and all this fuss over it is made by enemies.
Ara Marjanyan, deputy director of Norvanak Scientific Educational Foundation holds the same view. Recently, speaking of the article published by the authoritative international magazine National Geographic “Metsamor – the most dangerous nuclear power plant in the world”, tried to disperse all these assertions.
His main argument is the recognition of security by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). But Marjanian loses sight of one small, but important thing. Armenia cannot export spent nuclear fuel for burial. After the restoration of operation in 1995, a special dry storage of spent nuclear fuel was built at the plant’s industrial site. But with the transition to a new, more enriched fuel, a new problem arose. New fuel requires a longer exposure before being sent to the disposal, and the rate of its production is much higher than that of anti-radiation basins, which creates a dangerous for the region steam and radiation background.
An additional reason for concern is the fact that, despite the reconstruction and modernization, the NPP was built in 1976 and has been operating for almost half a century. Sooner or later the time will come to stop the reactor.
Earlier, the country’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that after the modernization the nuclear power plant will work until 2040.
Considering that today the construction of a nuclear power plant with the same technical characteristics as Metsamor, costs for one power unit from $2 billion to $5 billion, until 2040 the inflation will increase this amount several times.
Taking into consideration the empty budget of Armenia, the country’s authorities must think not only about building a new station, but about closing the current one, which requires millions of dollars.
But the main threat is that the NPP located in an earthquake-sensitive zone. In 1988, after a devastating earthquake in Spitak, which claimed 25,000 lives and left 514,000 people homeless, the work of the NPP was suspended until 1995. Unfortunately, it was re-launched despite international protests.
Armenian authorities must take into account the fact that if radioactive materials are released into the environment, the Southern and Northern Caucasus and most of the Middle East will be turned into uninhabitable area.
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Sara Israfilbayova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Sara_999Is
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