Document on ‘Metsamor NPP' circulated in PACE

The draft resolution "Metsamor nuclear power plant is a constant threat for the South Caucasus and Europe", prepared by a member of Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Ganira Pashayeva, will be discussed at the Bureau and in other structures of the Council of Europe.

The draft resolution has been signed by MPs of different countries, and an official document, which will be discussed at the PACE Bureau, is distributed during the structure's session. Under the procedural rules, the document must be signed by 20 MPs from the five member countries. Further, the document shall be discussed at the PACE Bureau, and then relevant decisions shall be made. The mentioned project was signed by some 25 European deputies.

"The Metsamor NPP located in Armenia is one of the biggest threats to the South Caucasus and the European region. An issue on an immediate cessation of activity of the Metsamor NPP located in a seismically active zone has been repeatedly raised at the Parliamentary Assembly. If severe accident happens at the NPP, the Azerbaijani authorities will have less than a day for evacuation of population from the danger zone. Such an accident may destroy all life in most parts of the South Caucasus. Last year, Armenia has once again rejected the EU proposal to close the Metsamor nuclear power plant in exchange for the allocation of $ 100 million to cover its energy needs. Yerevan reopened in 1995the NPP built in 1974," the draft resolution reads.

The draft resolution stresses that Metsamor NPP, which is located at a distance of 16 kilometers from Turkey, 60 kilometers from Iran and 120 kilometers from the border of Georgia and Azerbaijan, poses a threat not only to Azerbaijan but also to other countries in the region.

The document contains several recommendations over Metsamor NPP.

"Given the importance of maintaining security in the region and Europe, the Assembly recommends the following:
- to appoint a special rapporteur to carry out an urgent and full investigation of the matter;
- to form a group of parliamentarians who have the appropriate specialty to study the issue;
-to urgently the basis for dialogue with the participation of renowned experts of the Committees on Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs and the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights," the document says.

Metsamor NPP was built in 1970. After the devastating earthquake in Spitak in 1988 it was closed, but in 1995, despite international protests, the activities of the station were resumed, moreover, the second reactor was launched.

Given the large number of minor earthquakes in the past 10 years in this area, as well as the intensification of seismic processes, as indicated by research of seismologists, in the event of a serious accident at the Metsamor NPP not only Armenia, but also all the countries of South Caucasus and the Middle East will seriously suffer.


/Trend/