Baku, Azerbaijan, June 1
By Elchin Mehdiyev – Trend:
Armenia’s Metsamor nuclear power plant is the most dangerous plant for the region and Europe, Ziyafat Asgarov, first deputy speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament, said.
Asgarov made the remarks at the meeting of the PACE Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development in Baku June 1.
He said that the Metsamor nuclear power plant was built in Soviet times, adding that an accident at the plant can pose a big threat not only for the region, but for entire Europe.
Asgarov added that the issue should be discussed.
"Moreover, Armenia is located in the seismic zone, which makes the situation even more dangerous," he said.
Construction of the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant started in 1970. The plant was closed after devastating earthquake in Spitak in 1988 but in 1995, despite international protests, the plant was restarted and also the second reactor was launched.
Ecologists and scholars from the whole region think seismic activity in the area turns operation of the Metsamor plant into an extremely dangerous undertaking.