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The Washington Post called Metsamor "the city living between life and death".

02 November 2017 [14:15] - TODAY.AZ

By  Trend


The Washington Post has published an article describing the threats of the Metsamor nuclear power plant, located in Armenia.

"The plant (located in a town also called Metsamor) has long been a cause for concern for at least two reasons: It was built without containment vessels, and it sits in a seismic zone. In fact, it was closed in 1989 after a devastating earthquake hit nearby. In 2011, National Geographic even suggested that it might be the world’s most dangerous nuclear plant, " says author Stefano Morelli of the article entitled "Is this place in the shadow of the ‘world’s most dangerous nuclear plant’?

The author notes that despite the risks, the power plant is still open, and people still live in the town created for the plant’s workers.

"Photographer Stefano Morelli visited the town in January to document its way of life. What he found was 10,000 people (1,000 who still work at the plant) living in a town of old Soviet buildings, caught “in suspension between doubts and fears, between poverty and survival, between life and death.”," reads the article.

Armenia’s outdated Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) began to operate in 1976. After the devastating earthquake in Spitak town in 1988, it was closed down, but resumed its operation in 1995 despite international protests. The license for the exploitation of the plant expired on September 1, 2016, but the Armenian government decided to prolong the date of exploitation for 10 more years.

Environmentalists have long been concerned that the Armenian authorities refuse to close the outdated Metsamor NPP, any catastrophe at which could kill thousands in Armenia itself, and the whole region.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/regions/166430.html

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