nuclear-news

Armenia’s Metsamor nuclear plant seen as a risk by Turkey

Turkey holds drill over risk stemming from Armenia’s Metsamor nuclear plant, DAILY SABAH, ISTANBUL, 20.06.2019
  Fearing impact from a possible accident from an aged nuclear power plant in neighboring Armenia, residents of a border village held a drill on Wednesday coordinated by the local governorate.

As part of the drill, medical rescue teams and gendarme troops evacuated residents of Orta Alican, one of eight villages of the eastern province of Iğdır, which are located in close proximity of Metsamor. It is the first comprehensive drill of its kind in the region against the danger the plant poses.

“Survivors” of the nuclear accident were taken to a tent camp set up in central Iğdır by crews and they were “decontaminated.” Iğdır Gov. Enver Ünlü said it was their responsibility to conduct such a drill against “a disaster that might happen.”

He said Metsamor was assessed as one of the world’s most dangerous nuclear plants by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and according to data by European Union…….

Following an earthquake in 1988, Metsamor was closed. However, in spite of widespread international protests, it was reactivated in 1995. Armenia earlier rejected the EU’s call to shut down Metsamor in exchange for 200 million euros to help meet the country’s energy needs.

Turkey, which has not had diplomatic relations with Armenia since the 1990s over the occupation of Azerbaijan’s Nagorno Karabakh, has urged Armenia to shut down the plant due to the imminent danger the outdated plant posed to Turkey……https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/2019/06/20/turkey-holds-drill-over-risk-stemming-from-armenias-metsamor-nuclear-plant

June 22, 2019 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, Turkey