Turkey has turned to the international community once again to pressure neighboring Armenia to close down a decrepit nuclear power plant after data collected in border areas revealed increased radioactive spillage from the plant.
In a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Ankara demanded action and stronger international pressure on Armenia to shut the old-fashioned Metsamor nuclear power plant. The plant was built in the 1970s, but the technology installed at that time is no longer acceptable by modern safety standards. It was closed due to a 1988 earthquake in Armenia, but the Armenian government decided to reopen the damaged plant in 1993, citing an energy shortage in the country.
According to the data which the Turkish Atomic Energy Agency (TAEK) gathered from 13 early warning stations established in Iğdır and nearby Kars province, there is an increase in radioactive leakage in the region, which the TAEK attributes to the Metsamor plant.
The plant does not have an external dome to contain radioactive leakage and its cooling water is insufficient, and as its technology is outdated and it is located in an earthquake zone, all these factors makes it a perfect candidate for a second Chernobyl-type incident.
Moreover, the plant is located just 19 kilometers from Iğdır and 40 from Yerevan, in clear violation of internationally accepted standards that require nuclear power plants to be at least 90 kilometers away from human settlements.
Another concern which Turkey has with respect to the plant is that the nuclear fuel which Armenia buys from Russia is transported by air. Russian-made Antonov and Tapolov airplanes, both of which have a record of frequent crashes, are used to transport nuclear fuel to Armenia.
Noting the dangers the plant poses, Turkey requested that the EU urge Armenia to close the plant in 2005. Following investigations conducted by an EU delegation, the EU requested Armenia shut down the plant.
In 1999, the EU sent a delegation to Yerevan to conduct on-the-spot examinations in the plant. Simultaneous probes by the IAEA concluded that the plant should immediately be shut down. Before becoming a member of the European Council on Jan. 25, 2001, Arme-nia pledged to close the plant by 2004. In return the EU would reimburse Armenia's losses up to 100 million euros. Armenia found the EU's proposal insufficient and requested 1 billion euros instead. Later the EU increased its pressure and Armenia declared that it would not close the plant.
In the face of escalating international pressure Armenia has transferred part of the plant's shares to Russia. Russian Industry, Science and Technology Minister Ilia Klebanov had declared that the transfer did not include property rights, but rather that the financial responsibility of Metsamor was given to Russia.
Some claimed that Russian Electric Systems seized Metsamor's shares due to Armenia's default with respect to the overdue payments for $40 million worth of enriched uranium purchased from Russia. Analysts say that Armenia's move served to relieve international pressure on it
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11.04.2007
Today’s Zaman/Ercan Yavuz