September 25, 2007 - 17:37 AMT
Euroatom allocated 200 mln euros for closing Metsamor NPP
The European Union's stand on the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant is clear: it should be closed, European Commission's Acting Director for Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia, Mr Gunnar Wiegand told a news conference in Yerevan.

The Euroatom allocated 200 mln euros for closing the NPP, according to him. "We have supported nuclear safety measures for the ANPP over a number of years but now we call on the Armenian government to close it. By the way, the matter concerns almost all nuclear power plants on the territory of former USSR. Of course, alternative energy supplies are needed. Diversification of energy sources is already observed in Armenia," Mr Wiegand said adding that 200 mln euros will be assigned for closing the outdated NPP but not for construction of a new one.