Armenian Prime Minister and Rosatom head discussed the implementation of the program to extend the life of the second power unit of Armenian NPP

ArmInfo. Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan on June 12, met  the general director of the state corporation "Rosatom" Alexei Likhachev. According to the Government press service, during the meeting Karen Karapetyan stressed the importance of cooperation between Armenia and Russia in the energy sphere. He expressed satisfaction with the level of bilateral cooperation.

The sides discussed the process of implementing the program for the extension of the second power unit of the Armenian NPP. Alexei Likhachev noted that the work on the block is carried out in accordance with the established schedule. He added that the program to extend the life of the power unit of the Armenian nuclear power plant is one of the most important programs in the energy cooperation between the two states. Then Alexey Likhachev presented to the head of the Armenian Government the intermediate results of the work done, referring to the  forthcoming works.

TsNIITMASH, an industrial enterprise of the Rosatom. As for the instrumental survey, the main task of this exercise is to calculate   and confirm the residual life of the equipment using non-destructive   testing methods. In simple words, it is necessary to check the possibility of further operation of NPP equipment. As you know, there   is a lot of equipment on the NPPA, so the instrumental survey is   distributed for several years, without compromising the safety and   operation of the NPPA. Last year, we started this process; this year   the volume of the surveyed equipment increased by 50% compared to   last year (150 types of equipment) at the request of the supervisory  authority. We hope to finish the instrumental survey process next   year and in 2019.  Transfer calculations and conclusions to the   supervisory authority - the State Committee for Nuclear Safety   Regulation. We hope to finish on time, but everything will depend on  the results of the survey and the decision of the Gosatomnadzor.  On   30 Sept 2015, Tashir Group headed by Russian businessman of Armenian   origin Samvel Karapetyan and Inter RAO signed an agreement of purchase and sale of electric power assets of the Russian energy   holding in Armenia - ENA CJSC and Hrazdan TPP. The reason of the sale  was the public discontent about the ungrounded growth in electricity   prices by approximately 16.7% (6.93 AMD per 1 kWh). The Public   Services Regulatory Commission's (PSRC) decision to raise the tariff   sparked protests and the Armenian authorities agreed to audit both   the expediency of PSRC's decision to raise the tariff and the   activities of the Electric Networks. In addition, the authorities and   Tashir Group took a decision to subsidize on a parity basis the   raised tariff for the households and SMEs until the audit is   completed. Since August 1, 2015, the daytime tariff for households  (from 7 am till 11 pm) has been 48.78 AMD per 1kWh, while the   nighttime tariff has been 38.78 AMD per 1 kWh.