Garegin Baghramyan: The process of modernization of the Armenian NPP  should be carried out at the appropriate level and in a timely manner

ArmInfo. Acting Minister of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources Garegin Baghramyan on October 30 visited the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant (ANPP).  This was reported by the press service of the Ministry.

According to the source,. The Minister got acquainted with the  ongoing work at the ANPP, with the production and economic results,  the process of implementing the program to extend the life of the N2  power unit. Garegin Baghramyan walked around the station, visited the  turbine workshop, got acquainted with the repair work and the tasks  ahead.

Then, under the chairmanship of the Acting Minister at the NPP held a  working meeting with the management of the plant and the heads of key  departments. Garegin Baghramyan gave a number of instructions,  urging, in particular, to be consistent, so that the modernization  process of the ANPP was carried out at the proper level and in a  timely manner. He also touched on the issue of optimizing the size of  the station.

During the meeting, the ANPP staff addressed to the head of the  department their concerns, for which relevant instructions were  given.

Recall that after scheduled preventive repair, from August 1, the  fourth turbine unit of the second power unit of the station was  connected to the electric power system. The launch of the fourth  turbine unit was carried out in accordance with all safety  requirements.

Work on the modernization of the third turbine unit continues even  after its commissioning in early December of this year. capacity of  the ANPP will be increased by 20 MW and will be 400 MW instead of the  current 380 MW.

Earlier, in an interview with ArmInfo, Deputy General Director of the  Armenian Nuclear Power Plant Gera Sevikian noted that in 2018, the  main focus of work would be on upgrading the reactor cooling systems,  which would further increase the safety of the unit, approaching  world standards. In addition, in 2018, a huge amount of work will be  needed to modernize equipment for generating electricity - turbines,  capacitors, separators, output transformers. As part of this stage,  it is planned to increase the capacity of the unit by 17-20% without  increasing fuel consumption, which will make it possible to increase  the efficiency. Currently, the NPP unit operates at 92% of capacity,  which is about 380 megawatts. After the modernization, the capacity  will increase to 400-420 MW, which will be a solid increase,  allowing, without additional problems, to start servicing the loan of  the Russian Federation at $ 270 million.

Recall that the Armenian NPP consists of two units with Soviet  (Russian) VVER reactors. The first block was commissioned in 1976,  the second - in 1980. In March 1989, after the Spitak earthquake,  which killed 25 thousand people, the station was stopped. In November  1995, in connection with the acute energy crisis, the second power  unit of the plant with a capacity of 407.5 MW was activated. In March  2014, the Armenian government decided to extend the life of the  second power unit by 10 years - until 2026.  Completion is scheduled  for 2019. The government of the Russian Federation has allocated  Armenia for these purposes a state export credit in the amount of $  270 million and a grant of $ 30 million.