Armenian president denounces Azeri counterpart for spreading lies about Armenian nuclear power plant

YEREVAN, March 27. /ARKA/. Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan, speaking Tuesday at a nuclear summit in Seoul, denounced his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, for deliberate dissemination of wrong information about Armenia’s nuclear power plant.

"The blatant misinformation about the Armenian nuclear power plant, articulated here by the president of Azerbaijan, does not surprise me, since spreading lies about Armenia has long been a working style in Azerbaijan," he was quoted as saying by his press service.

Sargsyan went on to blame Azerbaijan for using high rostrums to spread lies not only about Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, but also distorting the international documents.

"Azerbaijan distorts even well-known UN Security Council resolutions on Nagorno-Karabakh, forgetting that it began military action, it refused to stop them, and now its leaders come out with bellicose statements and refuse to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis international law ", said Sargsyan.

According to him, nuclear safety has been and remains Armenia's priority.

"To achieve desired results, we have consistently and willingly contributed to the implementation of all proposed programs and have taken concrete steps to establish an effective mechanism of control,» he said.

In his words, Armenia adopted a new law governing control of dual-use products, including export and transit of nuclear and radioactive materials as well as information of dual use.

According to the president, Yerevan contributes to UN Security Council Resolution 1540 on nuclear non-proliferation.

"Armenia, as a producer of nuclear energy, has a comprehensive cooperation with the IAEA. Safe operation of the Armenian NPP, increasing its safety, and control of the spent fuel is one of the priorities of the Armenian government. In this regard, we strictly adhere to the requirements of international standards which are mandatory for nuclear power plants of this generation," he said.

According to him, an IAEA mission last year confirmed Armenian NPP’s full compliance with these standards.

The Metsamor plant, which accounts for about 40 percent of Armenia's electricity, has undergone numerous safety upgrades since being reactivated in 1995. According to government figures, Armenia has received $130 million worth of assistance from the United States, the European Union, Russia and other international bodies to upgrade the plant’s safety. The plant located some 30 kilometers west of Yerevan, was built in the 1970s but was closed following a devastating earthquake in 1988 that killed some 25,000 people and devastated much of northern Armenia. 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 Metsamor plant. The new plant is supposed to operate at twice the capacity of the Soviet-constructed facility. -0-