Wednesday, December 18 2024 11:54
Alexandr Avanesov

Conflict of interests between West and Russian to harm Armenian  nuclear energy - opinion 

Conflict of interests between West and Russian to harm Armenian  nuclear energy - opinion 

ArmInfo.  The close attention to the Armenian nuclear energy sector by major  international players is based on the clash of interests between the  West and Russia. This was stated by energy security expert Alen  Gevondyan in an interview with ArmInfo. 

According to him, in addition to purely nuclear energy, there are  other elements in this confrontation that are related to the Russian  Federation, especially in terms of nuclear fuel supplies, nuclear  power plant management, technological support for NPP safety systems,  the return of spent nuclear fuel, etc. 

Consequently, as the expert noted, this is an extremely sore subject  for the West, since the task is to tear Armenia away from Russia and  remove it from the Russian Federation's sphere of influence.  "However, Russia has always been Armenia's most important partner, be  it in energy, energy security, or the economy as a whole. Against  this background, the alternatives offered by the West have nothing in  common with reality. This is called in one word - Realpolitik," the  expert noted.

In particular, he pointed to the so-called nuclear power plants with  small modular reactors. Gevondyan noted that there are only two cases  of their use in the world, one of which was in the United States.   However, this experiment not only failed, but also led to the fact  that the company that operated this station subsequently paid large  fines to the American authorities for the failed program.

Recall that in May last year, the coordinator of the US government's  assistance programs for Europe and Eurasia, Maria Longhi, reported  that the United States was considering the option of building small  modular nuclear reactors in Armenia, seeking to strengthen its energy  independence. She added that the United States was evaluating the  possibility of creating small modular nuclear reactors on the  territory of the republic, built using American technology and  capable of leading to greater energy independence from both Russia  and China.

Against this background, as the expert noted, the US is imposing  ideas on the Armenian public that are far from reality. "First of  all, the public is being misinformed, since for the authorities  everything is more than clear and obvious. The authorities, having  accepted the American concept, have essentially become its executors.  In order to solve the problem, every effort is being made to remove  the republic from the Russian zone of influence, including by  reducing the energy security of the state. It is no coincidence that  a number of deputies from the government periodically make statements  that we must learn to live without gas and without nuclear energy,"  Gevondyan notes.

Meanwhile, according to the expert, the Armenian NPP currently  provides about 35% of all electricity produced in the country. It is  an extremely important segment in terms of energy consumption, and in  reality there is no alternative to it. All theses, expert  formulations, propaganda statements and appeals will not be able to  compensate for the role of the nuclear power plant either technically  or substantively.  However, geopolitics is not the area that can be  interested in the consequences of the country's refusal from nuclear  energy, and what will ultimately happen to the country, to its  population," Alen Gevondyan emphasized.

Earlier in Armenia the possibility of building several small modular  nuclear reactors with a capacity of 50- 60 MW was discussed.  Moreover, the possibility of building them in several regions of the  country was even considered. However, the problem rests on the fact  that "on the ground" there are simply no such energy facilities: they  are either at the design or licensing stage.

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