Development of uranium ore containing mines in Armenia is fraught with big environmental problems, Inga Zarafyan, Head of EcoLur NGO told ArmInfo. Inga Zarafyan says some legislative amendments in the country have enabled mining companies to gain extra profits even from the deposits that were regarded as unprofitable before. Now they began to develop the so-called ore occurrences.
The point is that there are also uranium ore occurrences that may have no importance for the industry, but they may have potential health impact on the local communities, the environmentalist says. Zarafyan alarms about the high level of radon at the areas near the deposits that have been operated for a long period of time already. Operation of all these deposits is accompanied by dangerous emissions of radioactive waste, she explains.
Earlier in October, environmentalists alarmed about exploration of the Azatek deposit located in Vayots Dzor region, which, as they claimed, contains uranium. According to EcoLur, expeditions in 1960s and 1970s also indicate at the uranium ore occurrences in the given area.
Quite lately, the State Radiation Safety Committee measured the national radiation environment in the area of the Azatek deposit and in the town of Vayk and the nearby Azatek community. The results of the assessment will be published later.
Meanwhile, Zarafyan complained about the lack of official data on the risks of operation of radioactive occurrences containing deposits. "No one cares for the issue, unfortunately. Mining companies are silent, as it is not within their interests to speak of the risks. As for the Government, its silence is in favor of some officials who back those companies," Zarafyan said.
Meanwhile, there is something that pours oil on flames - a few years ago, the Armenian-Russian Mining Company conducted uranium exploration in Armenia. Rosatom, Russia, provided 3 million EUR to that end. It was reported earlier that uranium reserves in Armenia could reach 30-40 thousand tons. However, the geological exploration of the uranium deposits brought no positive results.