Turkey complains to IAEA of Metsamor NPP

ArmInfo. Turkey has complained to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over  Metsamor NPP.

As Anadolu Agency informs Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey has stated at the General Conference of IAEA in Vienna that Metsamor NPP in Armenia is located in seismic active zone and poses a threat to the countries of the region, particularly to Turkey.

"Metsamor NPP should be closed. The world cannot allow another nuclear catastrophe after the one in Chernobil. Metsamor NPP was built 47 years ago. Besides, NPP is only 16 km far from Turkish border", the Minister said. At the same time the Minister urged the IAEA to study the problem of all the NPPs, which are in similar condition.

This is not the first attempt by Turkish and Azerbaijani sides to hinder work of Metsamor NPP. Turkey and Azerbaijan periodically raise the issues in various international platforms. However, it should be noted that Head of State Nuclear Safety Regulatory Committee under Armenian government Ashot Martirosyan has repeatedly stated that the examinations held by the committee, numerous expert missions of IAEA, European Union, the USA, Russia have not found any breaches or departure indicating inadmissible safety level of Metsamor NPP. He stressed that the level of safety of Metsamor NPP corresponds to the safety level of similar NPPs in other countries.

To note, on September 19 the nuclear power plant (NPP) was taken offline for regularly scheduled maintenance till November 18. Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Armenia told ArmInfo that standard procedures will be carried out within the two months of the plant's suspension. In addition, under the Lifetime Extension Project of unit No.2 of the Armenian NPP, a complex of measures will be taken to probe the state of the reactor vessel and the equipment of the primary coolant equipment of the nuclear island. Afterwards, the modernization project will undergo changes basing on the accurate data on the state of the equipment, metal, management system pipelines and many others, Areg Galstyan said. To recall, in March 2014, the Government adopted a decision to extend the lifetime of the unit No.2 of the NPP in view of the delay with the construction of the new power unit.  At the current stage, the Lifetime Extension Project of unit No.2 of Armenian NPP is being implemented with the participation of Rusatom Service's specialists.  The NPP will be modernized at the expense of the Russian  $270 mln loan and the Russian $30 mln grant funds.  The project will be implemented by the late 2019.

To recall, the Armenian NPP, the only NPP in the region, is located near the town of Metsamor (some 30km to the south of Yerevan). The first unit was put into exploitation in 1976, the second in 1980. At the beginning of 1989, the plant was closed down for political ideas, and then the second unit was reactivated because of acute energy crisis at the beginning of 1995. Two power units of Russian model pressurized water reactor- 440, with capacity of 815 megawatt in total were installed at the Armenian NPP. Experts say the Plant will be able to operate till 2016. At present measures are being taken to prolong the lifespan of the Armenian NPP till 2027.