The Russian minister does not see any problems with the delivery of equipment for the Armenian NPP

ArmInfo. "I do not see any  problems with the delivery of large- sized equipment to Armenia in  order to modernize the second power unit of the Armenian nuclear  power plant," he said. ArmInfo is the Russian co-chairman of the  intergovernmental Russian-Armenian commission for trade and economic  cooperation, the RF Minister of Transport Maxim Sokolov.

According to him, currently considered a scheme of delivery with the  operation of the ferry port of the Port of Kavkaz - Poti. Next cargo  will be sent along the routes of the "South Caucasian Railway". "I  think this direction is the safest and most effective from the point  of view view of the transportation of such a serious cargo, "the  Russian minister said.

Earlier in an interview with the correspondent. ArmInfo advisor to  the Minister of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources of  Armenia Areg Galstyan informed that preparations are now beginning  for the second stage of the program for the extension of the life of  the power unit N2 of the Armenian NPP. To this end, the railway  tracks have been restored in order to deliver large-sized equipment  to the station.  Moreover, it is not just about rebuilding the  railway section from Armavir to the station, but also on the  territory of the nuclear power plant itself, which is necessary to  bring large-scale equipment directly to the shop where it should be  installed. 

All equipment - generators, transformer, equipment for modernization  of the turbine, condenser, so-called thermo mechanical and electrical  equipment, will be delivered in stages. "We plan to completely  replace the thermal-mechanical equipment of the turbo generator in  the course of 2014, we will have to replace the old ones with new  ones, in addition, the system electrical substation with a capacity  of 220 kW will be completely upgraded. It is also necessary to  overhaul the cooling towers, which are a very important element ,  which affects the parameters of the block's efficiency, we are  already close to starting work on cooling towers and we hope that  this part of the work will be performed by Armenian companies. The  implementation of the program will allow to increase the technical  and economic parameters of the unit, to increase the volume of  electricity production, to reach higher unit capacity levels, which  by 10% or by 300 million kWh will exceed design capacity, "the  adviser to the minister said.

The Armenian nuclear power plant consists of two units with Soviet  (Russian) WWER reactors. The first unit was commissioned in 1976, the  second - in 1980. In March 1989, after the Spitak earthquake, which  killed 25 thousand people, the station's work was stopped. In  November 1995, in connection with the most acute energy crisis, the  second power unit of the station with a capacity of 407.5 MW was  involved. In March 2014, the Armenian government decided to extend  the life of the second power unit by 10 years - until 2026. The  project is coordinated by the subsidiary structure of the State  Corporation Rosatom - JSC Rusatom Service. Completion of work is  planned for 2019. The Government of the Russian Federation allocated  a $ 270 million state export loan to Armenia and a $ 30 million grant  for these purposes. In March 2015, the Joint Coordination Committee  (JCC) was established to implement the program. To date, there have  been five meetings of the JCC.