In accordance with the decree published on the Armenian government’s website, the working group will conduct research on the construction of a new nuclear power unit at the existing nuclear power plant, the suitability of small modular reactors to be deployed, and the selection of necessary technologies, and to determine the steps to be taken in the future. The head of the working group will present information about its activities to the Prime Minister’s office every two months.
The US State Department has announced that feasibility studies are being carried out on the establishment of small modular nuclear reactors produced with US technology, which can help many countries, including Armenia, reduce their energy dependence on Russia and the People’s Republic of China.
Pashinyan, in his statement on May 24, emphasized that the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant has a certain period of use and that negotiations are being carried out with Russia, the USA and third countries on nuclear energy.
Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant, close to the Turkish border, produces approximately 40 percent of the country’s electricity.
One of the reactors at the power plant was shut down in 1989 due to the danger it posed.
Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant, which is 16 kilometers away from the Turkish border and started to be built in 1970, has two reactors, one of which was commissioned in 1976 and the other in 1980.
Both reactors were shut down in 1989 after the 1988 Spitak earthquake in Armenia, but the newly built reactor No. 2 was reopened in 1995 after renovations.
The useful life of the reactor, which expired in 2005 and is an old technology product, was extended to 2026 as a result of the renovation works carried out in August 2021.
Türkiye and the European Union are concerned about the danger posed by the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant
Turkey also conveys its concerns about the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant, which is 16 kilometers away from its borders, through international authorities. The Turkish Atomic Energy Agency applied to the International Atomic Energy Agency to stop the activities of this old power plant, which was built during the former Soviet Union.
Due to the fact that the nuclear power plant is located in an earthquake zone and its old technology, the European Union demands that the power plant be closed from Armenia.