As the political and radioactive fallout of Japan’s Fukushima meltdown spreads, serious regional concerns over the safety of Armenia’s aging Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant continue to mount. Not only does the plant lie on a physical fault line, but it is also located in a politically unstable neighborhood, intersected by ethnic and sectarian divisions, especially with Azerbaijan and Turkey, the latter two being at loggerheads with Armenia over political, territorial, and valid environmental safety issues.
While all the parties have an interest in making sure there are no problems at Metsamor, the recent Fukushima nuclear disaster has simply magnified the security and environmental concerns of regional actors, and this will inevitably have an effect on their political relations, also.
One only has to look at the history of the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant to understand that it is basically an accident waiting to happen. Following the earthquake in the Armenian city of Spitak in 1988, which measured 6.9 on the Richter scale and killed over 25,000 people,[1] Soviet officials decided to shut down the plant. However, a highly effective economic blockade imposed by Azerbaijan and Turkey in response to the illegal occupation of the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh by Armenian troops created conditions which led to the reopening of the plant seven years later, despite expert advice that it should remain deactivated.
Landlocked Armenia has few short term alternatives to nuclear power. The Metsamor reactor provides about 40 percent of Armenia’s electricity. Attempts to replace it have been continually frustrated and efforts to find alternative energy sources, or install a new reactor with state-of-the-art controls and backup systems, have so far proved fruitless. However, something will have to be done because the clock is ticking. In October 2008, Areg Galstyan, the Armenian Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced that the construction of a new nuclear power plant is due to start sometime in 2011 and is expected to be commissioned in 2017.[2]
Hakob Sanasaryan, an Armenian chemist and head of the Green Union of Armenia, claimed in 2003 that the Metsamor did not meet internationally accepted nuclear safety standards, as it lacks a containment vessel, whose function is to prevent radioactive release in the event of an accident.[3] Moreover, the plant is located a mere 75 kilometers from the 1988 earthquake epicenter, an area with a long history of powerful quakes, and 30 kilometers from the Armenian capital Yerevan.
Nonetheless, officials in Yerevan insist that Armenia is immune to the kind of nuclear emergency which has struck Japan, even if the country is located in a seismically active zone. Ashot Martirosian, head of Armenia’s State Committee on Nuclear Safety Regulation, claims that a magnitude-8.9 offshore quake, such as the one that has wreaked havoc on Japan, is extremely unlikely ever to hit Armenia.[4] He also claims that the cooling system of the nuclear plant at Metsamor is superior to that of the Fukushima Daiichi facility and that it can withstand an even more severe earthquake than has been experienced either in Japan or Armenia in 1988.
The consensus statements by Armenian officials indicate that they have closed ranks on the nuclear issue. Rafael Arutunian, Deputy Director of the Institute for Nuclear Energy Security Problems of Armenia, thinks that Metsamor has shown its capability to withstand serious earthquakes since 1988 and that any speculation about the threat posed by Metsamor is merely politicking.[5] However, the Japanese tragedy has definitely been a wakeup call, he believes. Additional security measures will now have to be put in place to make the nuclear power station safe for Armenians as well as for their immediate neighbors.
The Soviet-built nuclear power plant is not considered safe enough by Western governments either, according to a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty report.[6] Also, there has been considerable public controversy – sometimes even hysteria – lately over the use of nuclear energy and the nuclear industry has a contentious track record. So much so, for example, that Germany has plans to decommission several of its plants, even if they are considered as modern and state-of-the-art. However, the trend for putting safety first is about to stall in many regions of the world, as political and economic expediency pushes safety concerns onto the back burner. In that context, Armenia’s neighbors cannot now assume that the once all-pervading anti-nuclear logic can be used as an unassailable argument against the Metsamor plant.
The Azerbaijani government and international experts continue to voice safety concerns over the Metsamor nuclear plant. Azerbaijan wants solid assurances from Armenia that the plant does not constitute a danger for any state in the region. Eduard Shevardnadze, former president of Georgia, has urged his country’s authorities to negotiate with Armenia on the safety of the plant. “Reports about the Armenian NPP’s condition raise serious concerns. The Armenian NPP turned out to be in the most deplorable condition and there are not any safety guarantees, what threatens the entire region,” reports PanArmenian.[7] Up until now, however, it appears that the threat of nuclear disaster and the damage this potential threat is inflicting to its international relations are prices the Armenian government considers worth paying to avoid losing face with their domestic consumers and international lobby.
Azerbaijan and other regional states’ reasonable concerns deserve to be taken seriously and properly addressed by the Armenian government. In particular, they need to be reassured that there is an effective emergency response plan in place; and that needs to be done without any bias by all the sides as well as other stakeholders. The same questions which have been thrown up by the Fukushima disaster should be asked in the case of Metsamor and parallels should be drawn.
Another source of misgivings is the fact that Metsamor has been operated since 2003 by the Russian Inter RAO UES, owned by Russian state-run Rosatom Corporation. The contract is valid until 2013. Azerbaijan and contiguous countries should be particularly concerned by the “business ethic” of Rosatom. A relic of the Soviet system, it still operates largely with full autonomy and without oversight since its activities are not under the scrutiny of any independent agency.[8] Also, suspicions abounds that Rosatom’s officials and scientists are engaged in money-laundering schemes, clandestine technology transfers and other types of ‘transactions.’[9] An embodiment of Cold War-style secrecy, Rosatom is a complex of laboratories and secret “closed cities” where mostly former soviet scientists design and build nuclear power plants for local demand and foreign markets.
Notes
[1] See http://wn.com/1988_Spitak_Earthquake
[2] See http://www.arka.am/eng/energy/2008/10/24/11736.html
[3] See http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/Armenia/index.html
[4] See http://hyemedia.com/2011/03/14/armenia-protected-against-major-nuclear-plant-emergency/
[5] See http://www.messenger.com.ge/issues/2332_april_6_2011/2332_econ_three.html
[6] See http://www.armeniadiaspora.com/news/2176-armenia-protected-against-major-nuclear-plant-emergency.html
[7] See http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/world/news/65443/Georgias_expresident_joins_those_concerned_over_Metsamor_NPP
[8] See http://www.letemps.ch/Page/Uuid/a869f708-7645-11e0-ad9c-5bc151931d57
[9] See http://csis.org/blog/nuclear-policy-news-may-11-2010; http://www.geotimes.ge/index.php?m=home&newsid=21565
. Looking at your credentials, you are an Azery agent and your article is grossly one sided. If all this concerned entities were concerned enough, they should have abandoned the senseless blockade of Armenia over LEGITIMATE territorial, political demands Armenia has against Turkey and Azerbaijan. They Should return all of Armenian land, property and dignity taken away in 20th century and before
YOU’RE EXACTLY RIGHT.
Thanks for well-documented article. Also please join us to call for shut down of Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant in Armenia.
http://www.change.org/petitions/call-for-shut-down-of-metsamor-nuclear-power-plant-in-armenia
Artsakh is the correct name, Artsakh belongs to Armenians and it has not been illegally occupied, it has been liberated from occupation. On the rest of the article, this whole article is just a false propaganda by Azeris, Azeris that have occupied the lands of Lezgins, Udis, Avars and Talish ethnic Caucasian races. I suggest to the author of this fake hoax to go back to his native homeland and free the land of others.
No Thanks for well-documented PROPAGANDA article. Also please join us to expose the turkish agents for what thy are. and call to shut them down.
John K, you took everything out of my mouth so I will just add that, lately “Azerbaijan” (Another genocidal Turk imitation country) has made a big stink about the nuclear capabilities of Armenia. No doubt they want to attack Armenian lands and take over, something they have been doing for the past 800 years. Armenia being nuclear capable, however has them all confused, since if things were to get out of hand they know they could be blown to Turkey heaven. So the natural thing to do is go on smear campaign to try to get the world to “condemn” Armenian nuclear capability to try to get them to stop nuclear power in Armenia. This is all simpleton reasoning, but hey look who we’re talking about.
WHAT A SICK TURKISH / AZERI JOKE OF AN “ARTICLE”. Journalism? Richard Rousseau, is a professor at the AZERBAIJAN Diplomatic Academy in Baku. Keep attempting to SMEAR Christian Armenia, but you wont be able to kill her in the end. We WILL defend ourselves just as we have for centuries. Long live Christian Armenia.
So, what your really saying is there was a second shooter on the grassy knoll…
What does it really matter? After all the radiation being dumped into our oceans and environment and all the lies we here from Japan and our own Government. All is within levels that would not effect the human race as a whole, Right?
Then why not just keep dumping it in the environment? And why is it illegal?
Why shut down anything at all?
Its all good until it gets all bad. Give it time, we will get there and the truth and after math will come to pass. At that point though, there wont be much time left.
Can anyone remember what happened to former Soviet designed units, like Metsamor of Armenia, in East-Germany, then Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria ? Poor Armenians are keep complaining about this article’s author as the Turkish agent and treating the issue as political games by Turks. If an accident happens on those units Erivan is 30km but the Turkish towns are less then 20 km from the Metsamor. Depending on which way it blows you can have the disaster as claimed by the article and French reports which were suggesting a significant amount of upgrading that requires to reach the bottom of the current western safety standards. Shutdown those antiquated units immediately as requested by the EU at the time for the East-Europian units mentioned above. Isn’t lives of Turks and Armenians are less worthy than the Europians? So, who is making the politics?
mok10501, nice English, why not post in your original Turkish though?
another sick turkish propaganda piece. these turk bastards think the world is stupid.
mok10501,
only in you sick turkish dreams. Or just as soon as the you criminals freeze in hell.
You know the old saying – if you lie down with dogs you’ll catch fleas? I suggest you shower frequently after reading this.
Who’s paying you?
John K, Jack, Joe and all accusers,
Sometimes I am also an Armenian agent, and a Georgian agent, and a Ukrainian agent, etc. I am rarely a Russian agent though (Зто Так, К сожалению, ребята !), but I could become one, depending on facts and my judgment.
See http://74.200.236.114/eng/special_reports/9208-armenian-genocide-and-turkey-history-repeats-itself.html?print
Keep BS’ing with your usual turkish /azeri financed PROPAGANDA, that will buy you much credibility, Richard. LOL
The turks doesnt want to shut down metsamor because its a threath they want to shut it down because they dont want us to be able to heat up our food or houses or light up the streets.
Come up with an idea to replace metsamor instead of saying shut it down its just retarded
The Japanese radiation will likely flood the entire northern hemisphere. I think if you eat healthy there may still be ways to prevent cancer. Other than that…. I have my escape route planned out in the event the government and world order cordons off the cities for any number of reasons – economy crash or epidemic – however it’s going to happen… I’m working with my friend who’s building a cabin in the high mountains of Adajra. Our rationale is that even if nazis, red-scare “communists”, Turks, Iranians, or if Monsanto declares we’re not allowed to grow our own food…. whatever the case, plus the “jack-boots” are not likely to march into Georgia and Armenia soon. So, I’m going to stay put and keep doing what I’m doing and keep prep’ing for the great meltdown.
Mr Richie Rich, I see you came back with a “rebuttal”, but still, all those “accusations” towards you are still correct. Why is it that, when you check “Azerbaijani” news sources after the Japan incident which are FULL of anti-Armenian propaganda regarding it’s nuclear plant, that “all of a sudden” you come along with another “me too” article this time as non-“Azerbaijani” and non-Turk?
Of all the nuke plants all over the world, why are you suddenly singling out Armenia? It is articles such as yours which make me want to say that Armenia should actually go in the opposite direction and start developing nuke weapons and point them in the direction of the two genocidal Turk countries to the east and west. There is no use dealing with savages in any other way.
It is not normal to be full of so much hatred dear Armenians. This is almost pathological. With this blinding hatred you bloodied our beautiful region, where Armenians were benefiting more than any other ethnic group. This hatred could destroy you one day, and I think it is, gradually.
You even started to infect Azerbaijanis with this same kind of blind hatred, and now they are responding the same way toward you. The same sick way you have been treating and thinking of Azerbaijanis and Turks.
Open your eyes. Stop these delusional claims. Nobody is killing or is prepared to kill you. And nobody in the Caucaus in the last 100 years killed more than you have. If you want to live together then learn to share and tolerate. Is there any Armenian who takes humanity’s side? I do. And let all those in both sides, who are ready to murder and rape their neighbor for their own well-being be damned.
It seems Mr. Rousseau isn’t much of an expert on nuclear technology, and he’s also on Baku’s payroll.
http://ada.edu.az/facultyresearch/faculty/richard_rousseau
“Richard Rousseau, Ph.D. is a professor of international relations at the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy in Baku.”
It’s enough as an argument not to read this whole text. Cheap propaganda oil$ wash machine.
Great article, Richard. Well done. Ignore the sick comments of Armenian losers.
So much about Azeris and propaganda here. Who, but not Armenians should be attributed for the propaganda of all kinds. Just to remind you about one of the biggest propaganda stuns, which is blaming Turks for things they have never did.
Due to a pure propaganda tricks Armenians had tripled the number of alleged “victims” of so infamous fake “genocide” claims just during last 20 years. Enough is enough. Stop to fool all people around the world. Nobody really believes in your phony statements and bullshit opinions. Who is on payroll is you, in fact, clowns.
Bedros,
Thank you for being so passionate about Caucasian people. I am a Caucasian as well. You know what – you, as an Armenian, are not a Caucasian at all.
You came to Caucasus very late, with respect to other Caucasian people. You do not have any lands in Caucasus, North or South, which could even be remotely associated with Armenia or Armenians in the past. Caucasian people speak Caucasian languages or Turkish. You do not speak Caucasian languages – you have never belonged to this area. Pack your stuff and just leave. And last – take you false and shitty history books with you, maybe burning them one day would warm up your cold and fucked up day. These books are not worth a penny, anyway.
Och those armenian nationalists, they popp up every time there appears an objective article and start to trash it.
For the first – are not you tired of your armenian propaganda? You used it the whole last century and West believed it. Thanks to interbate and globalization opinions start top change, there are more and more people on the West who knows how many billions you, armenians spend on propaganda when according to US ambassador armenian kids go hungry to bed, Erevan is associated with “bandits city” and armenian men send their 10.-12 years daugters to Turkey to prostitute (which became a real pain for Turkisch authorities)
http://www.rusrep.ru/article/2011/02/08/crime_armenia;
http://rusrep.ru/article/2011/02/07/ggc/
http://rusrep.ru/article/2011/02/07/trafficking
Second – Karabakh has always been populated by Azeri, until first armenian set its fot on our lands.
“An analysis of the historical facts shows that Karabakh-Arsakh was an integral part of the states located on the territory of historical Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh has therefore been a historical province of Azerbaijan since time immemorial” ; ”Potential ethnic tensions were associated with the influx of Armenians, who frequently bought up the Muslim´s land with the support of the government, thus driving them out”Johannes Rau, german researcher in The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan,
“the Armenians have for the most part been settled on the lands of Muslim landowners… The settlers… are forcing out the Muslims… We also discussed at some length the work of persuasion to be done with the Muslims in order to reconcile them to their present hardships, which would not continue for a long time, and to rid them of the fear that the Armenians would maintain permanent possession of the lands to which they had once been allowed to move” according to Russian diplomat Griboedov
The ethic cleansing Azeri by Armenians is going on already 2 centuries:This is what from materials of Geneva convention 2003:
116. Before 1988, Azeris were the largest ethnic minority in Armenia. The figure from
1988 was nearly 200,000. As the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh intensified, ethnic
tensions erupted leading to the mistreatment of the Azeri minority. The Armenian
authorities discriminated against ethnic Azeris and were unwilling to protect them against
acts of violence perpetrated by the Armenian population.
117. From 1988 to 1992, ethnic Azeris, persons of mixed Armenian/Azeri origin and
couples of mixed Armenian/Azeri ethnic origin were, when not expelled, systematically
victims of harassment and acts of violence, such as physical and psychological violence,
threats to life, abductions, deprivation of property and social benefits, marginalisation,
etc. These acts were either perpetrated by the local authorities themselves or by certain circles of the society, encouraged and tolerated by the local authorities.
Maja go lern the history before you coment here armenians is much longer in that land there is no azeri in history in that time line so go lern some history