Abstract
CHERNOBYL OF THE CAUCASUS: METSAMOR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant accepted as the most dangerous and unsafe nuclear power station plant in the world is a product of nuclear power war between the two blocs during Cold War. The power plant experiencing many serious accidents since being built was closed in 1988 after the Spitak earthquake and taken into operation again due to economic reasons without any security measures in 1995. Beside being on the Ararat fault line, Metsamor, which was built with the oldest Russian technology, continues to run with the absence of many safety and technical equipment, such as the lack of water used for cooling the reactor and a guard basin to maintain the nuclear fuel. In addition, a faulty plant design in architecture is also considered as security vulnerability. Additionally, reaching of the effluent used for cooling the reactor to the Caspian Sea through the Aras River and the burying of radioactive fuel from the reactor in Upper Karabakh under occupation are just some of the problems caused by Metsamor.
The presence of Metsamor, which has every aspect that should not be in the standards about nuclear power plants today, is a serious threat to mainly Turkey, which is just 16 kilometers away, Azerbaijan, Iran and the entire region. However, weak enforcement powers of international law for the closure of the plants having the risk of accident has made it difficult for the countries of the region having no responsibility in the establishment of such plants to create a serious pressure. Therefore, it is necessary to make further propaganda for the urgent closure of Metsamor having the same technology with Chernobyl, which caused the death of more than 40 thousand people and kept the thousands crippled, by the countries of the region in the international arena. In the present situation, it is seen that Turkey, which will be affected most by a possible accident in the plant because it is only 16 kilometers away from Metsamor, has not been able to create a serious level of awareness neither in its own public opinion nor in the international arena against the current threat.
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Keywords
Metsamor Nüklear Power Plant, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey.