Expert: Armenian nuclear power plant is absolutely safe, despite existing risks

ArmInfo. The Armenian nuclear power plant is absolutely safe, despite the presence of existing risks in comparison with the newest Russian nuclear power units. A similar point of view is held by the senior lecturer of the department of engineering radioecology and radiochemical technology of the St. Petersburg University of Technology Andrei Akatov.

According to him, the risks are related to the age of the plant, but these risks are acceptable. "The Armenian nuclear power plant has a right to exist, and the program is currently being implemented at the plant to extend the life of the N2 power unit, which is being implemented in accordance with the experience accumulated by Russian experts," the expert said, citing the Kola NPP as an example. But there are also differences. The project of the Armenian nuclear power plant is finalized from the point of view of seismic.  On the Kola Peninsula, the maximum estimated earthquake is only 4%, and in Armenia, the underground element can become serious, as evidenced by the earthquake in Spitak in 1988. At Kola NPP, for example, the security system, the protective shell, has been modernized. "This experience is also used in Armenia," said Andrei Akatov.

Answering the question about the negative reaction to this project from Turkey and Azerbaijan, the expert pointed to a similar response from Lithuania to the Russian construction project of the Belarusian NPP. At the same time, the official Vilnius keeps absolute silence about the construction of a similar Belarusian nuclear power plant in Finland.