Media publications that question the safety of the further operation of Armenia’s nuclear power plant do not contain factual evidence and may have a political connotation. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated this during a press briefing Wednesday.
Zakharova noted this as she commented on reports published in a number of media outlets that voice concerns about the safety of the Armenian nuclear power plant amid the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity being held in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.
“The ‘gramophone,’ so to speak, has already become clogged with dirt and dust, but they are still trying to do everything to make that ‘creak’ audible. It is about [media] materials that are dedicated to the risk that the further operation of the Armenian nuclear power plant supposedly poses to the entire region. The most important thing when evaluating these publications—and you are not the only one asking about this—is to see, which is noticeable even to the naked eye, that they fundamentally lack any factual basis,” the Russian MFA spokesperson said.
“Considering that the main partner of the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant [of Armenia] is the Rosatom [Russian] state corporation, which always responsibly approaches the fulfillment of its obligations, the claims of individual journalists cause nothing but bewilderment and only raise questions: at what cost did they put these guidelines—the ‘methods?’ Moreover, additional questions arise also about the possible political motivations of such publications. Perhaps they are simply due to someone’s desire to harm the Russian-Armenian project in the field of nuclear energy,” Zakharova stated.
According to the Russian MFA spokesperson, the reactor complex of the Armenian nuclear power plant is specially adapted to the high seismicity of the region, which makes it truly resistant to such challenges of the terrain.
“Is there any evidence of reliability other than theoretical calculations? Many will probably ask such a question. Calculations are one thing, but what do we have in practice? The evidence of the reliability of the plant is that during the devastating Spitak earthquake of 1988, all safety systems [of the plant] worked in a normal mode,” Zakharova said.
“Over the past years, Rosatom, together with Armenian nuclear engineers, has done significant work to increase the safety and reliability of this plant. In early October of this year, the safety of its operation until 2031 was confirmed. A program of measures for 2027-2030 has been agreed, with the aim of extending the operation of the nuclear power plant until 2036,” the Russian MFA spokesperson noted.
“By the way, Yerevan regularly emphasizes its interest in this matter. In particular, it is planned to modernize the key emergency response systems [of the plant]. All measures are being carried out in accordance with IAEA [i.e. the International Atomic Energy Agency] requirements and international standards. The agency's mission gave a conclusion in 2025 that the [Armenian] nuclear power plant meets safety standards, including seismic safety," Maria Zakharova stated.