Rosatom: Negotiations on construction of a new nuclear power unit in Armenia have never stopped

ArmInfo. The negotiations on construction of a new nuclear power unit in Armenia have never stopped, Kirill Komarov, First Deputy Chief Executive Officer for Corporate Development and International Business at Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation, said at a briefing in Yerevan on April 20.

Komarov said that the Russian and Armenian sides are constantly holding a dialogue. From the technological viewpoint, there is a possibility to build the new nuclear power unit on the site of the Armenian NPP, he said. Komarov stressed the need to ensure parameters that would enable economically efficient operation of the unit. First of all, the matter concerns the amount of consumption inside the republic and possible provision of the capacities to the neighboring countries. "We are working at this project together and if a 'window of opportunities' emerges, we will gladly implement that project," he stressed, recalling that the intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in construction of the new power unit has been signed and it will remain in force. "As soon as our partners and we realize that there are all economic bases for the project, we will certainly try to implement it," he said.

To note, on August 20, 2010, Russia and Armenia signed an agreement on technical and financial cooperation that implied construction of a new power unit at the ANPP. It was initially envisaged to build a 1060 MW power unit. Russia was even ready to finance 20% of the construction. In addition, Armenian- Russian JV Metsamorenergoatom CJSC was founded to build the new power unit and the Warley Parsons international consortium was to manage the construction project.  Later, however, due to the lack of about 5 bln USD, the Armenian Government decided to extend the lifespan of the second power unit of the ANPP and to return to construction of the new power unit in 2018.