Perhaps in hindsight, constructing the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant in an lively seismic zone wasn’t very sensible planning.
In a world bristling with nuclear flashpoints—from the trenches of Ukraine to the Gulf’s powder keg—U.S. management in nonproliferation is once more discovering its voice. But amid this resurgence, one pressing hazard continues to fly beneath Washington’s radar: the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant in Armenia.
Just 22 miles from Türkiye and nestled inside an lively seismic zone, Metsamor is a Cold War relic—and a uniquely hazardous one. Built within the Seventies with Soviet engineering, the plant depends on a reactor design so outdated it lacks a containment vessel, a core element of recent nuclear security. After a robust 6.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Armenia in 1988, Metsamor was shuttered, solely to be inexplicably restarted within the Nineties. Today, it hums alongside quietly, a nuclear time bomb embedded within the tectonic and geopolitical fault strains of the South Caucasus.
Source: Armenian Weekly
A disaster at Metsamor wouldn’t simply be an area tragedy. The South Caucasus serves as an important hall for East-West vitality flows, channeling Caspian oil and fuel to European markets whereas skirting Russia and Iran. A nuclear accident in Armenia wouldn’t cease on the border—it could ship fallout throughout Türkiye and Georgia, imperil European vitality infrastructure, and convulse world markets already rattled by geopolitical upheaval.
But the danger isn’t just environmental. Metsamor can be a geopolitical lever—one firmly in Russia’s grip. Operated with help from Rosatom, Moscow’s state atomic company, the power provides the Kremlin a strategic foothold within the area. As the United States pushes again towards Russian revanchism, Armenia’s continued dependence on Russian nuclear infrastructure represents a gaping blind spot.
Layered atop that is Armenia’s deepening partnership with Iran. Long earlier than as we speak’s headlines, Armenia quietly facilitated Tehran’s efforts to evade sanctions. A 2012 Reuters investigation discovered Armenian banks complicit in laundering Iranian funds and obscuring fee trails to evade Western scrutiny. In 2019, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Yerevan-based Flight Travel LLC for aiding Mahan Air, an airline with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
That partnership has solely deepened. In 2022, Tehran and Yerevan inked a deal to develop the North-South Transit Corridor via northern Iran—a mission that will open new pathways for sanctions evasion. And simply weeks in the past, Iranian nationals reportedly sought secure haven in Armenia, underscoring Yerevan’s function as a logistical and financial backstop for the Islamic Republic.
Meanwhile, one other subject festers beneath the floor: a troubling prevalence of antisemitic sentiment inside Armenian society. In January, the Anti-Defamation League launched its newest world index on antisemitism, which ranked Armenia among the many highest in Europe. A staggering 57% of Armenians surveyed agreed with adverse stereotypes about Jews—a fair increased proportion than respondents in Iran. These aren’t fringe views; they’re systemic, ideological pathologies that ought to boost alarms in Washington.
This isn’t just about offensive attitudes. When a rustic harboring excessive ranges of antisemitism additionally controls a susceptible nuclear facility—operated with Russian assist and sitting on a geopolitical fault line—it turns into a strategic legal responsibility, not only a ethical concern.
Source: Natgeofe
If the U.S. is critical about nuclear safety, countering authoritarian affect, and reinforcing a rules-based order, then Metsamor calls for its consideration. The risks posed by the plant usually are not theoretical—they’re pressing, layered, and getting worse.
Principled management begins with consistency. Washington has proven it may well lead on world nuclear norms, from multilateral diplomacy with Iran to containment methods in North Korea. Metsamor ought to be subsequent. That may imply partnering with the International Atomic Energy Agency to mandate stricter security inspections, or providing Armenia a monetary and technical off-ramp to decommission the plant.
Metsamor isn’t just a holdover from one other period—it’s a slow-motion disaster. One that, if ignored, may erupt right into a catastrophe felt far past Armenia’s borders. If the United States really desires to preempt the following nuclear emergency, it should act whereas there’s nonetheless time.
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