Parliament debates over Nuclear Plant inadequate – scientist

An Armenian professor on Friday expressed his concerns over the parliamentarians’ attitude to the Nuclear Power Plant’s (NPP) future, describing the debates at the National Assembly as non-professional, anti-national and immoral.

“None of us knows too much, but for many years - ever since the Soviet times - I been the specialist on the Nuclear Plant affairs. When people who do not understand anything address the issue and [Prosperous Armenia lawmaker Mikael] Melkumyan asks about the investment risks, I wonder if he understands that investments do not matter so much as the threat of explosion when it comes to the Nuclear Power Plant,” Vahan Hamazaspyan, a doctor in technical sciences (the National Academy of Sciences), told a news conference on Friday.

A Russian-Armenian intergovernmental cooperation agreement on extending the timeframes of NPP’s second energy bloc was on the National Assembly’s agenda on Friday. In his speech at the debate, Khosrov Harutyunyan of the ruling Republican faction expressed his disagreement to a proposed closure. The lawmaker said he knows that the Metsamor-based plant was suspended in the 1990’s under strong political and civil pressure. “Our people closed it down upon the initiative of the Armenian Pan-National Movement [which was then a ruling party]. And that’s a reality, a historic fact. Both the NPP and the [rubber plant] Nairit closed down,” he said, noting that the subsequent years of energy crisis necessitated a decision for re-opening the plant

Agreeing with Harutyunyan’s remark, Hamazaspyan meantime expressed his concerns over security issues. He proposed undertaking the construction of a new nuclear plant instead of spending resources on the renovation of the existing infrastructures. “When it comes to the security of an entire nation, it must be built, no matter the money required,” he added.

Hamazaspyan said he doubts that a renovation will raise the plant’s security protection. “When asleep, a person nonetheless grows old, so it doesn’t make sense to prolong the [NPP’s] life for 10 more years through renovation,”  he added.

The next important issue, according to the specialist, is to find the right people for getting the activities under way. He said the parliamentarians’ speeches made clear that foreign specialist decide the plant’s reliability level.

“There aren’t any figures, and it is none of politicians’ business. It requires corresponding knowledge because the equipment may serve its purpose for 30 more years after renovation, but the possibility that it will not resist shocks is great,” he added.

Hamazaspyan stressed the need of inviting Armenian specialists from abroad to ensure a caretaking attitude to the issue.

The scientist, whose research now focuses also on renewable energy, says now plans to launch solar power projects in the Diaspora and the disaster zone of Spitak (Lori region) considering the sector very promising. According to his estimates, the potential of obtaining solar energy in Armenia is twice much as that from the Nuclear Power Plant.

“The nuclear power plan is not so dangerous as are the officials who manage the processes,” Hamazaspyan said, summing up his concerns.