IAEA Head Grossi Visiting Armenia To Discuss Nuclear Safety With Prime Minister

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan while on a two-day visit to Armenia, which has one operational nuclear power plant

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th October, 2022) Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan while on a two-day visit to Armenia, which has one operational nuclear power plant.

"I'm in Yerevan on a 2-day visit to Armenia, an important @IAEAorg partner. Nuclear power is essential in Armenia's economy interesting talk w/ PM @NikolPashinyan on the country's current & future nuclear power plans. We support Armenia in ensuring its programme is safe & secure," Grossi tweeted.

The IAEA head also met Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and visited Armenia's nuclear regulator, to discuss safety and security with representatives.

Armenia has one nuclear power plant, Metsamor, which was built in 1980 with a 30-year lifetime.

After the 1988 earthquake which devastated the country, the plant was shut down, however its unit 2 was restarted in 1995. In July 2018, Pashinyan stated that the country was working to extend the unit's operating lifetime to 2040, industry representative the World Nuclear Association reported on its website.

Armenia has been a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty since 1993. The country has very few domestic sources of energy, and has decided not to give up nuclear power as a relatively clean fuel. Negotiations with Russia's nuclear energy corporation Rosatom are going on to build a replacement nuclear power plant.