Azerbaijan, Baku, March 15 / Trend A. Taghiyeva /
As the Metsamor nuclear power plant was built using first-generation nuclear technology and is located on a seismically active area, the plant poses a great threat to Armenia and neighboring countries, an expert told Trend.
"This is not just a nuclear power plant. It is an atomic bomb that could explode at any minute," Sinan Ogan , the head of the Turkish Center for International Relations and Strategic Analysis , and the chairman of the Turkish-Azerbaijani Circle , told Trend .
The Metsamor nuclear power plant , which began its work in 1976 , is located in a seismically active area approximately 30 kilometers west of Yerevan. After the devastating earthquake in Spitak in 1988, the Armenian authorities decided to close the Metsamor NPP, but economic straits forced the country's leadership to restore the plant's activity in 1993 . The reactor's operation term expired in 2001 .
Ogan believes that the explosion that occurred at the nuclear power plant in Japan should serve as a lesson to "us all," and the international community should think about what the consequences may be if an earthquake measuring at least seven points hits Armenia.
"The nuclear power plant in Japan was constructed based on third-generation nuclear technology, while Metsamor was built with first-generation nuclear technology, and this increases its danger for the region," he added.
Ogan said the country's population cannot protest the plant's operation as Armenia is an undemocratic state.