it is the country ' s largest industrial site that directly concerns all environmental groups as well as those in other regions . thirteen miles northeast of the capital riga , armenia ' s metsamor nuclear power complex was built in 1970s and houses seven vver - 440 - v230 reactor reactors . metsamor , which currently produces about 40 percentage of the government ' s electricity , is found in a seismically active zone and was closed sometime before the 1991 demise of the soviet union because of the devastating dec . 7 , 1988 , event in spitak .
Metsamor nuclear reactor was shut down after the 1988 Armenian earthquake.