YEREVAN (ArmRadio)—A linear particle accelerator, named AREAL, was inaugurated Tuesday at the CANDLE (Center for the Advancement of Natural Discoveries using Light Emission) Synchrotron Research Institute in Yerevan.

The modern accelerator is an exceptional and huge wealth, CANDLE’s Executive Director Vasily Tsakanov and President of the State Committee on Science Samvel Harutyunyan said at the opening ceremony.

They informed that Armenia will become a member of Europe’s accelerator network in the near future, which means the country will enter the European scientific space and parts of some European programs will be worked out in Armenia.

The CANDLE international research center was established in Armenia by a government decision adopted in 2008.

The AREAL project is the first phase of CANDLE’s synchrotron light source creation in Armenia. Speaking about the successful completion of the first phase, Vasily Tsakanov noted that “Armenia has built a modern accelerator, which is unprecedented in the region.”

The construction of the accelerator became possible thanks to the state-of-the art technologies provided by Germany and Switzerland.

The total cost of the project is estimated at 20 million euros. Armenia has spent just 580,000-640,000 euros, thanks to its European partners covering most of the costs.