Chairman of the State Nuclear Safety Regulatory Commitее Ashot Martirosyan said the Armenian authorities are not going to reject their energy policy.

“The Armenian authorities numerously stated that the situation at Japanese Fukushima will not affect implementation of the country’s energy policy. The program envisages construction of a new energy unit of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), and it should be constructed,” Martirosyan told a press conference on April 20.

Metsamor, the Caucasus' only nuclear power plant, which currently supplies 40 percent of Armenia's nuclear power, was shut down for seven years after a massive 6.9-magnitude earthquake in 1988 that left 25,000 dead. The epicenter of the 1988 earthquake was 75 kilometers from Metsamor.

By 2016 the Armenian government intends to replace the old Soviet-era-built station with a new one that would meet Western safety standards.

With a projected capacity of 1,000-1,200 megawatts, the new nuclear plant would be more than twice as powerful as Metsamor's sole operating reactor that generates more than 40 percent of Armenia's electricity. The Soviet-built reactor is due to be decommissioned in 2017. According to preliminary estimates, the new atomic block will cost approximately $5 billion. A more precise figure will emerge after the completion of design works.