President Armen Sarkissian in Abu Dhabi visited the Barakah nuclear power plant: Armenia should remain one of the world’s sicientific and engineering expertise centers

In the framework of his working visit to the United Arab Emirates, President Armen Sarkissian in Abu Dhabi visited the Barakah nuclear power plant.

The UAE is the only country of the Persian Gulf which has and will soon finish the construction of a powerful nuclear plant. The plant is built based on Korean technology and along with solar and wind energy will have a great input to the total of electricity production in that country.

President Sarkissian toured the plant and familiarized with its work. He was informed that the plant has been designed with a special attention for the safety features. The leadership of a relevant state body conversed with the President of Armenia about cooperation in the area of nuclear energy. Noting the fact of existence of a nuclear plant in the Republic of Armenia, President Armen Sarkissian said that our country has the years-long experience of nuclear power plant administration as well as scientific and engineering experitise for keeping it safe.

The interlocutors stressed the importance of a steady and lasting cooperation of the two countries in the area of nuclear energy. “I believe that as a result of our today’s meeting, cooperation between the Republic of Armenia and the United Arab Emirates will deepen considerably and will open new opportunities,” President Sarkissian noted. “As you know, as a result of the process initiated a year ago, Masdar company signed an agreement with the government of Armenia and Armenian National Interests Fund on the construction of a solar power plant of 400 MW capacity. My visit to the nuclear energy center of the UAE is not an end in itself. Since nuclear energy is present in Armenia’s energy basket, which means that the power plant is working today and will be working efficiently tomorrow, any problem related to the plant, most importantly, its safety, issues of stability and management are of interest.” According to President Sarkissian, in general, with regard to the resolution of the issues related to the sustainability of the nuclear power plant, its safety and nuclear management, the Republic of Armenia and UAE have common interests. “I believer our scienticsts, experts, engineers can chip in on this; they possess certain knowledge which they can pass on to their colleagues and vice versa because the plant, which is being constructed in the UAE, is an interesting nuclear power plant built in line with the highest international standards,” President Armen Sarkissian said.

The meeting of the President of Armenia and representatives of the UAE often touched on expert issues. The interlocutors of President Sarkissian highly praised his command of the topic and his awareness regarding issues of nuclear energy. As it is well-known, Armen Sarkissian used to be the President of the Global Energy Safety Council of the World Economic Forum in Davos and a Co-Chair of the Euro-Atlantic Security Initiative (Chairman on Energy Security).

President Sarkissian underlined also the necessity to expand cooperation of the Armenian nuclear power palnt with the world’s nuclear centers. “Armenia is a country which has a nuclear power plant and is well-aware of nuclear energy related issues, and will remain as such for the years to come because we all anticipate that in 5, 10,15, or 20 years from now a new era of thermo-nuclear plants will begin. They will be much more efficient and safer. I trust that with this regard Armenia, with its scientific and engineering expertise, should remain a world center,” he stressed.