Azerbaijan is planning to build the country`s first nuclear power plant.

AzVision.Az reports with reference to the influential Russian publication Lenta.ru that the statement came from chairman of the JSC "National Center for Nuclear Research" Adil Garibov.

According to him, work on the construction of the first nuclear reactor in the country can be completed by 2020. In the Soviet times, Azerbaijan planned to build nuclear power plants, but then gave up the idea after the accident in Chernobyl in 1986.

According to Garibov, the first, so far research, nuclear reactor, to be put on tender next year, must have the power of 20 mW. In addition, a training reactor of 2 kW will be created.

"The parameters of the reactor which will be built in Azerbaijan, are unique", Garibov said, "By our estimates, the construction of the reactors can be completed by 2020, as the obtaining of the permit of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will take two years. Azerbaijan has already appealed to the IAEA for the permit, but it is also important for a contractor company which is to build the nuke reactor to have the necessary license too".

The construction site with area of 15 hectares has already been defined. In addition to the actual reactor there will be an office building, data center and the necessary research infrastructure.

Garibov did not elaborate where exactly the construction will be launched, but in all likelihood, it will be in outskirts of the town of Khirdalan located between Baku and Sumgait. The current leadership of the republic has decided to give up the idea of building the plant in the village of Navai located south-east of the Azerbaijani capital, where the Soviet authorities were going to build nuclear power plants, although in comparison with other regions of the republic it is a more favorable seismic zone.

The fact that Azerbaijan needs to develop its own nuclear power in Baku was noted long ago. According to the estimates of local experts, the hydrocarbon reserves of the country will be depleted by approximately 2020-2025. At the same time the country`s economy demonstrated steady growth in the recent years- the only exception is the last year (the IMF predicts GDP growth in Azerbaijan by 4.5 percent in 2014 and 4.3 percent in 2015). If the republic reaches the indicators that were attained 5 years ago, when the annual growth rate was more that 10 percent, the energy potential of Azerbaijan will not be able to meet the needs of a developing economy.

In March 2007, the Institute of Radiation Problems of Azerbaijan presented a package of proposals to the Government on the construction of a nuclear power plant with capacity of 1500 MW. According to the Institute, the plant could be built in 4 years and would cost $ 3 bn.

At the end of that year, the IAEA agreed on the construction of the first nuclear research reactor in Azerbaijan. According to the president of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan (ANAS) Mahmud Karimov, the agency itself promises to provide the financial support to the project. Construction of the project was planned for 2009-2011, and its capacity was to be less than 1 MW. However, the project was eventually suspended at this permitting stage.

In 2011, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to develop a feasibility study for the construction of the country`s first nuclear power plant.

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