I have blogged in the past that one of the big dangers with nuclear power is the fact nuclear power plants are prime targets for terrorism and warfare. After the recent Paris attack, there was evidence that some of the same terrorists might have been working on an attack on a nuclear facility in Brussels, Belgium. Terrorists could take over a nuclear plant and try to cause a meltdown. They could try detonating explosives to drain the spent fuel cooling pool which would lead to explosive release of radioactive materials when the exposed fuel rods spontaneously caught fire. The danger during warfare would be that an attacker could deliberately bombard a nuclear power plant or that the plant could be accidentally damaged. Of course nuclear plants vary in their vulnerability and the probability that they might be involved in a conflict.
The Metsamor nuclear power plant in Armenia was built by the Soviet Union in 1976. It is similar in design to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant which was the site of a terrible accident in 1986. The Metsamor plant has no emergency cooling system.
Metsamor was closed after an earthquake in 1988. It was restarted during the Nagorno-Karabakh war which ended in 1994. Metsamor reached the end of its design life time in 2010. Armenia was planning to decommission the plant in 2010 but it continues to operate and Armenia now says that it use to plant to generate electricity until 2026. It generates about forty percent of the electricity for Armenia.
A lot nuclear materials is being smuggled through Armenia and Georgia. Recently, smuggler were arrested while trying to smuggle hundreds of millions of dollars worth of U-238. The great fear is that terrorists will purchase nuclear materials on the Armenian black market to build dirty bombs.
The Nagorno-Karabakh region was occupied by Armenia during the war and is poorly monitored. It is estimated that there are at least thirty different locations in N-K where spent nuclear fuel removed from Metsamor is being buried with little concern for safety. This is a great threat to the environment in that area. In addition, terrorists could dig up the buried waste for use in dirty bombs.
The European Union is very concerned about the continued operation of this old nuclear power plant and the disposal of its spent fuel. E.U. analysts say that it would be impossible for Armenia to upgrade Metsamor to meet current international standards for nuclear power reactor safety. The E.U. has repeatedly called for the closure of the plant and even went so far as to offer Armenia over two hundred million dollars to help with the closure of Metsamor but Armenia turned them down.
Armenia is close to the Middle East, the site of many recent conflicts and much terrorist activity. This proximity increases the chances that Middle Eastern terrorists may gain access to the materials they need for dirty bombs. It is to the interest of the whole world for a solution to be found for Armenian power needs that does not include the continued operation of the Metsamor nuclear power plant.
Metsamor nuclear power plant:
