Armenia interested in deepening effective cooperation with IAEA: Prime Minister

YEREVAN, April 18. /ARKA/. Armenia is interested in further deepening of effective co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said today during a meeting with IAEA Director General Yukia Amano.

"The government attaches great importance to ensuring safe operation of the nuclear plant. After the accident at Fukushima, our country was one of the first to welcome a group of international experts to examine the level of security at nuclear power plant in Metsamor", he was quoted assaying by government press office.

Sargsyan expressed gratitude to Amano for cooperation and assistance, recalling that the country's Nuclear Energy Security Council is chaired by the President of Armenia, and nuclear safety is in the limelight of the President.

IAEA Director General said that Armenia is an important partner, because the country has a functioning nuclear power plant and plans to build a new one.

"You plan to extend the life of the nuclear power station, and then decommission it. At all these stages our agency is obliged to assist Armenia, «he said.

Speaking about the construction of new nuclear power, Amano said it must proceed in a high degree of transparency. 

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-