Nuclear power expert downplays concerns about safe operation of Mestamor NPP
YEREVAN, December 6. /ARKA/. Adolf Birkhofer, the chairman of the Nuclear Safety Advisory Group under the Armenian president, downplayed today concerns of Armenia’s neighbor countries that the nuclear power plant in Mestamor poses an ecological threat to the region.
Speaking at a news conference after the 12th meeting of the Advisory Group, Mr. Birkhofer (Germany) said such statements are made regularly, but they are inconsistent with the true state of things at the facility. He said such statements commonly target other nuclear plants, including those in Germany. The expert noted that Armenia is the first country where the president personally takes part in such discussions devoted to nuclear power safety.
"He (President Sargsyan) is well aware of the outcome of our discussions concerning the safety situation at the NPP," he added.
Speaking about the level of NPP staff preparedness, Birkhofer highlighted that they have regular trainings both at the plant and outside the country, organized by the World Association of Nuclear Plants.
The executive secretary of the Advisory Group, Vahram Petrosyan, said more than 1,200 measures have been taken to enhance the safety of the facility at the demand of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency since the plant was relaunched in 1995.
President Sargsyan spoke at the 12th session of the Advisory Group about the prospects of nuclear energy power in the country. The NPP’s director Gagik Markosyan spoke about what is being done to improve its safe operation.
The Advisory Group was set up in 1996. Its main objective is to help improve the safe operation of the facility.
The Armenian Metsamor nuclear power plant is located some 30 kilometers west of Yerevan. It was built in the 1970s but was closed following a devastating earthquake in 1988. One of its two VVER 440-V230 light-water reactors was reactivated in 1995.
Armenian authorities said they will build a new nuclear power plant to replace the aging facility. The new plant is supposed to operate at twice the capacity of the Soviet-constructed facility. Metsamor currently generates some 40 percent of Armenia's electricity. But the government has yet to attract funding for the project that was estimated by a U.S.-funded feasibility study to cost at as much as $5 billion. Under a 2003 agreement Armenian nuclear power plant's financial flows are managed by Russian Inter RAO UES, owned by Russian state-run Rosatom corporation.
The agreement expires in 2013. In 2010 Russia and Armenia signed an agreement on cooperation in nuclear energy sphere whereby Russia committed to assume 20% of all expenses. The Armenian government will cover another 20% and the remaining part is supposed to come from investors.-0-
