Minister: Operations launched in Armenia to prolong lifespan of Nuclear Power Plant

ArmInfo.  Operations have been launched in Armenia to prolong the lifespan of the Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), Armenian Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Yervand Zakharyan, said at a press conference in Yerevan on January 21.      

He said that in October 2015 the joint coordination group held the first meeting in Yerevan with participation of Rosatom Director General Sergey Kiriyenko. The meeting outlined the time and volume of the work to be done in 2017-2018. The preparatory work is already underway. In spring 2017 the sides will be prepared to suspend the ANPP's activities for 3-4 months to overhaul the plant. The operations will be continued in 2018. Afterwards, the ANPP will be able to generate electric power till 2027. High priority is given to the safety.

Zakharyan said that Armenia is going to build a new nuclear power unit with the capacity of up to 600 MW instead of the previously considered 1060MW project. The given decision was taken following in-depth surveys. The 600MW power unit will become more flexible in terms of operation and maintenance. The minister stressed that the construction of the new power unit remains on the Government's agenda. The power unit is to be built upon completion of decommissioning of the upgraded second power unit of the ANPP in 2027. Russia and other countries have the relevant technologies of construction of 600MW power units and they are already building such power units in different countries. "In strategic terms and from the viewpoint of diversification of the energy resources, we have no reasons to quit the nuclear power engineering," the minister said.

It should be noted that at the 14th regular session of the RA Presidential Council for Nuclear Energy Safety (PCNES) on 27 October 2015 Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said that the program for extension of operation of unit-2 will be implemented in two stages:  first, integrated research program for systems, equipment, components and structures of the NPP; second, necessary replacement of and upgrade for obtaining a license for operation within additional deadline, and measures to raise the safety level of the Armenian NPP, including the ones suggested in the report based on stress test under technical support of the European commission. Under the 1st stage, the research of 4500 units of equipment, systems and components has been finalized. The report for stage 1 will be finalized in March 2016. "In parallel, we have started to work on stage 2. We hope despite short deadlines Russian specialists with active involvement of Armenian specialists will implement the whole amount of work on time and with high quality," Serzh Sargsyan said, recalling that on October 7, 2015, the first session of the joint coordination committee to extend the operation of unit-2 of the Armenian NPP was held. Within the framework of this session, the governments of Armenia and Russian federation signed an agreement on rapid notification about nuclear accident and information exchange in nuclear and radiation safety.

The Armenian President stressed that in accordance with the government decree of July 31, 2014 on the approval of the action plan for 2014-2020, the commission date of the new nuclear unit is synchronized with the decommissioning date of the operating unit.  "Thus Armenia confirms its intention to develop nuclear energy and this domain occupies a key position in energy development program," Sargsyan said.  He also noted that in December 2014 and February 2015 the governments of the Republic of Armenia and Russian Federation signed agreements on cooperation in the project for extension of operation of unit-2 and extension of a state export loan to the government of the Republic of Armenia.  Both agreements have come into force and the work has commenced.

To note, the Armenian NPP consists of two power units with the capacity of 400 megawatt each. But only one of these two power units is operating at present. The first unit was commissioned in 1976, the second one in 1980. At the beginning of 1989, the plant was decommissioned following the Spitak earthquake in December 1988. In early 1995 the second unit was re-launched. The ANPP's power output makes up nearly 40% of the total power generated in the republic. The lifetime of the unit expires in late 2016.  At present measures are being taken to prolong the lifespan of the Armenian NPP till 2027. In 2014 Armenia and Russia signed in Moscow an agreement implying provision of 270 mln USD loan to Armenia for 15 years at 3% p.a. In addition, Russia will grant 30 mln USD to Armenia for the same purposes.