YEREVAN. – Safety of Armenia’s Nuclear Power Plant is at the center of international organizations’ attention, and there is no problem concerning safety, Armenian Energy Ministry Press Secretary Lusine Harutyunyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am, in response to the news spread in Turkish media that Turkey’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources had petitioned to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with the request to shut down the Plant. Harutyunyan also noted that Turkey makes such statements often and they are compelled to respond to them every time.

Turkey and Azerbaijan were recently alleging that the October 23 earthquake in Turkey had damaged the Plant. And in response to these allegations, Armenian Minister of Energy Armen Movsisyan had noted that the Plant was constructed to withstand a minimum magnitude-9 quake, and that the tremor in Turkey had measured a mere magnitude 3 nearby the Plant. The Minister also recalled that an IAEA OSART (Operational Safety Review Team) mission had visited the Plant and concluded that its operational risks are manageable.