ArmInfo. On December 2, the Joint Coordination Committee on Armenian NPP Unit 2 Lifetime Extension Project held its third meeting. Rusatom Service has told ArmInfo that representatives of Rosatom State Corporation, Armenian Ministry of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources, Armenian Government's Committee on Nuclear Safety Regulation, attended the meeting.
The Russian delegation was headed by Kirill Komarov, First Deputy Chief Executive Officer for Corporate Development and International Business at ROSATOM State Atomic Energy, and the Armenian delegation - by Deputy Minister of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources Areg Galstyan. The participants surveyed the results of the examination and substantiation of the Armenian NPP Unit 2 lifetime extension and discussed the preparations for the additional lifetime of the unit, as well as the steps of modernization and replacement of the equipment and safety systems.
The participants also confirmed the completion of the integrated examination of the Unit 2 equipment. 15 specialized organizations were involved, 4,500 units of equipment were examined, 46 report documents were elaborated and transferred to the ANPP.
Since 2016, the metal and weld-in connections of the equipment and reactor pipelines (including the reactor vessel, steam generators, etc.) were examined. No defects hindering the lifetime extension were found.
At the same time, 49 programs of examination are underway. The operations will be completed in 2018.
Both sides confirmed that the implementation of the Armenian NPP Unit 2 Lifetime Extension Project is progressing on schedule. Kirill Komarov said that the sides pointed out the importance of the program of preparation for additional lifetime. The participants adopted a number of decisions aimed at enhancement and maintenance of safety at the ANPP. "The meetings of the Joint Coordination Committee allow making timely decisions on the most important issues, controlling and coordinating the project operations, and jointly carrying out the tasks of the Russian and Armenian sides in the single information space," Yevgeny Salkov, Director General of Rusatom Service, said, when commenting on the meeting.
The Joint Coordination Committee was set up in May 2015 to control the course of implementation of the project in line with the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Armenian NPP Unit 2 Lifetime Extension signed in late 2014. Rusatom Service JSC, the subsidiary of Rosatom Corporation, coordinates the project.
For these purposes, Russia has provided Armenia with a $270 mln loan and a 30 mln grant.