YEREVAN, Armenia -- An Armenian nuclear plant, viewed as potentially unsafe by the West, may reopen before the end of the year, a Russian minister said on Friday. Lev Ryabev, first deputy nuclear power minister, told reporters that all basic preparatory work would be carried out at the Metsamor nuclear station to bring it back into operation. Russia signed an agreement with Armenia last March to help the fuel-starved Transcaucasian republic reopen its only nuclear station, which was closed shortly after a powerful earthquake in December 1988. Armenian officials had previously said the plant, about 25 kilometers east of the capital Yerevan, would not open before the spring of 1995. Ryabev stressed that the station was not damaged in the 1988 quake. "The station has not been stopped because of failures. It was working normally," he said.
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