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Updated March 2009
Nuclear Overview
There are no known nuclear reactors, research facilities, or uranium mines on the territory of Azerbaijan. However, there is a large quantity of radioactive waste stored at the Izotop Industrial Complex and in other locations.
Azerbaijan is a signatory to the Minsk Accord, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and is a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
NATO and Azerbaijan are working together to detect and render harmless lost or neglected sources of radiation. Areas of concern include the Gabala radar station, military factories, dumps, and hospitals. The aim is to prevent dealers and terrorists from getting their hands on radioactive waste.[1]
According to news reports in 2007, Baku is considering the possibility of building a nuclear power plant.[2] According to Makhmud Kerimov, president of the Azerbaijani National Academy of Sciences, Azerbaijan plans to build a nuclear research center beginning in 2009 and, possibly in the future, a nuclear power plant.[3]
In April 2008, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree creating an agency under the Emergencies Ministry to regulate nuclear and radiological activity.[4]
[1] "NATO Projects Designed to Bring Azerbaijan Closer to Alliance," BBC Monitoring International Reports, 21 December 2006; in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, http://lexis-nexis.com.
[2] "Azerbaijan Wants to Build Nuclear Power Station," BBC Monitoring International Reports, 13 April 2007; in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, http://lexis-nexis.com.
[3] "V Azerbaydzhane budyet postroyen atomnyy issledovatelskiy tsentr," [A Nuclear Research Center Will be Built in Azerbaijan], Day.az Ekonomika, 26 September 2007.
[4] Baku APA News Agency, 24 April 2008; "Azerbaijan sets up agency to supervise nuclear activity," FBIS Document CEP20080425950096.
This material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin Center for
Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and
does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently
verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2009 by MIIS.
