nuclear-news

Earthquake danger to Armenian nuclear reactor

Concerned over the plant’s high-risk location and ageing facilities, the European Union in 2004 offered to provide 100 million euros (135 million dollars) in compensatory aid if Yerevan agreed to shut down the reactor.

Environmentalists decry risks of new Armenia nuclear reactor, Google hosted news, By Mariam Harutunian (AFP) –4 Oct 10, YEREVAN — A short drive from the Armenian capital, the enormous cooling towers of the Metzamor nuclear power station sit in a seismic zone that has suffered one of the worst earthquakes in modern history. The international community has long pleaded with Armenia to shut down the Soviet-era plant, which is only 30 kilometres (20 miles) from Yerevan and its 1.1 million residents, and close to the border with eastern Turkey.
But now the controversial station is being given a new lease on life. Under a recent deal, Russia has agreed to help build a new reactor unit for Metzamor that will extend its life by decades……….

Local environmentalists, however, are calling on the government to drop the plan, saying the risk of a nuclear accident so close to the capital is too high.

“Those who are deciding to build a nuclear power station in such a place are simply not thinking about the future of the Armenian people and don’t realise the catastrophic consequences it could have,” said Hakob Sanasarian, the chairman of the Yerevan-based Green Union environmental group………..

Concerned over the plant’s high-risk location and ageing facilities, the European Union in 2004 offered to provide 100 million euros (135 million dollars) in compensatory aid if Yerevan agreed to shut down the reactor.

Authorities have instead decided to upgrade the facility, approving the construction of the new 1,060-megawatt reactor unit at an expected cost of up to five billion dollars (3.7 billion euros)…………

Aside from the danger of potential earthquakes, critics have also raised concerns about the environmental effects of launching the new reactor and have accused the government of failing to provide full information about its impact.

“We have never received answers from the government,” said Inga Zarafian of environmental group Ecolur.

“From where will they take the huge amounts of water needed for the reactor to work at such capacity? Where will the nuclear waste be buried? What will they do with the old plant?”

AFP: Environmentalists decry risks of new Armenia nuclear reactor

October 3, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | EUROPE, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, reactor