Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan has released a press statement on 35th anniversary of International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day.

According to the statement, MFA has called on the relevant international organizations to mobilize the efforts for the suspension of Metsamor NPP.

It is noted in the statement that risks associated with the Metsamor (NPP) in Armenia need to be thoroughly addressed by the international community. 

“Metsamor was built in the years 1976-1980 with similar technology used in Chernobyl and is located in an active seismic zone. The fateful combination of outdated technology and location place Metsamor among the most dangerous nuclear plants in the world. Despite continuous warnings by various international organizations calling the facility “a danger to the entire region,” Armenia still continues to exploit Metsamor NPP beyond its operational life span,” statement says.

With releasing this statement, the government of Azerbaijan Republic has aim to call on the relevant international organizations to urge Armenia to stop the activity of the dangerous power plant.

Speaking to Eurasia Diary, Orkhan Baghirov, expert of Centre of Analysis of International Relations, made comments about the importance of the press statement by Azerbaijan on the suspention of Metsamor NPP.

According to expert, the issue on Metsamor Azerbaijan has raised is of importance, as it poses threat for all regional countries.

“It is important issue because of the dangers that Metsamor NPP poses for Azerbaijan and all regional countries. On 35th anniversary of Chernobyl Disaster we remember how the Chernobyl was calamitous accident and how many people it affected. There are still a lot of people who are suffering from the implications of radiation they and their close relatives were subjected to after Chernobyl disaster,” he said.

Baghirov pointed out that the facilities of NPP in Metsamor were constructed by applying same technology as in Chernobyl.

 “After the disaster the construction of NPPs that were planned to be constructed by using the same technology as in Metsamor NPP were suspended. However, Metsamor station still uses the same technology that was proved to be unreliable and dangerous. Therefore, our government raised this issue in order to draw attention of international community and regional countries to the “ticking time bomb” situated in Armenia,” he noted.

Moreover, expert underscored that Metsamor is a one of the two most nuclear power plants in the world that poses the threat for the environment, the health of population and security in the region.

“I think that Metsamor NPP have to be closed, because it still operates with unreliable old Soviet technology. According to the “International Atomic Energy Agency” (IAEA) Metsamor is one of the two most dangerous nuclear power plants in the world with 13 critical points in scale of 15 points that measures the level of danger of NPPs. The station also poses an environmental threat for the region because it works with cooling system that uses water resources.  Leakage of radioactive substances into water sources located there could have disastrous results for the whole population in the region as it could easily spread to neighbouring countries by rivers,” Baghirov said.

“Another problem in terms of security is the location of the Metsamor NPP. It situated in seismic zone which could anytime became subject to earthquake. Not coincidentally, after Spitak earthquake that occurred in 1988 in Armenia the station was shut down. All these factors demonstrate that the Metsamor NPP is the real danger for the region and its activity should be ceased as soon as possible,” he added.

The serious reaction of the relevant international organizations to the dangerous activity of Metsamor NPP and its suspension is a one of the significant issues on the agenda of the regional security.

Touching on this issue, Baghirov noted that the international organizations are aware of the security issues regarding the Metsamor NPP.

He said that as the time passes the likelihood of creation of problems in Metsamor NPP increases which in turn create more security concerns.

“Despite the fact that Armenian government will shut down the plant for repair works in 2021, it is not going to change the old system that plant uses. As the Armenia is not planning to update the technologies in Metsamor NPP it attracts more attention of international organizations because of the security issues. Therefore, we could expect that international organization will react seriously to the suspension of Metsamor NPP,” he added. 

by Yunis Abdullayev