Azerbaijan ‘should be involved’ in Metsamor nuclear plant inspection
Azerbaijan should also be involved in the inspection of the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Armenia, Azerbaijani National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) President Mahmud Karimov told journalists on Thursday.
He said the issue was raised at the general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) held this week.
"The Armenian side says ten different committees have checked the Metsamor NPP in 2011. But the test results are not available to neighboring countries, that is, the inspections lack transparency," Karimov said.
The Metsamor NPP issue became more urgent following the accident at the Japanese nuclear power plant Fukushima-1, he said.
"Indeed, the Metsamor NPP is a major threat to the region, because it does not meet the European standards, it has exhausted its resources and outdated. The EU has repeatedly demanded the closure of the plant," Karimov said.
Karimov said the Metsamor plant is located in mountainous
terrain, and if there is a real accident occurs, there will not be
enough water to cool its reactors and it will be very difficult to
stop the accident. He added that Armenia has also no financial
resources to address the consequences of a possible accident.
Metsamor was built in 1970.
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