Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 14
Trend:
The construction of the new power unit of the Armenian nuclear power plant will begin in 2018, Armenian Energy Minister Yervand Zakarian was quoted by the Armenian media at a press conference Jan. 14.
He recalled that the Armenian-Russian intergovernmental agreement was signed in Moscow on January 20, 2014. According to it, Russia will deliver a loan worth $ 270 million to extend the operation of the station until 2027. The loan will be issued for 15 years at three percent per annum. A grant worth $ 30 million will be delivered for the same purpose.
He said that construction of a new power unit will be launched in 2018. It will be constructed by closing the old one in 2027.
Metsamor (Armenian) nuclear power plant was built in 1970. It was closed after the devastating earthquake in Spitak in 1988, but in 1995, despite international protests, the work of the station was reactivated, moreover, the second reactor was launched.
Seismic activity of the region makes the operation of the nuclear power plant in Metsamor an extremely dangerous activity, even in case of construction of the reactor of the new type, according to environmentalists and scientists from all over the region.
Edited by CN