Thursday, January 10 2019 14:03

ArmInfo.The Armenian government at its meeting on January 10 approved the program of events for 2019-2026 on the implementation of the concept of safe  management of radioactive waste (RW) and spent nuclear fuel (SNF).

As noted in the certificate - the rationale of the draft decision,  solving the problem of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel is an  important task for the government of the country. Currently, the  Republic of Armenia has problems associated with the streamlining,  organization and implementation of measures to ensure the safe  management of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. The program  of measures envisages the creation of a single operator on the basis  of the Closed Joint Stock Company "Neutralization of Radioactive  Waste". It is also planned to create a national system for accounting  and control of radioactive waste. The program will also form an  extrabudgetary fund for the efficient management of SNF and RA, as  well as develop legal acts that will be funded from the funds  accumulated in the fund.  It is also planned to conduct training and  retraining measures, modernize the management system of the RW and  SNF and repair the spent nuclear fuel pools at the Armenian nuclear  power plant. The program envisages the construction of the third  phase of the 12-module storage with SNF.

According to the official website of the State Committee on  Regulation of Nuclear Safety of the Armenian Government, the dry  storage of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) of the Armenian NPP is activated  until 2020. On August 1, 2000, the State Nuclear Supervision  Authority of the Republic of Armenia issued the Armenian Nuclear  Power Plant license to operate the storage facility for a period of  20 years. Storage type NUHOMS-56 consists of 11 horizontal modules  with 616 insulating containers. In 2005, the Armenian parliament  decided to expand the storage facility, which made it possible to  store up to 1,890 containers for at least 50 years.

The current Armenian NPP is located near the town of Metsamor  (approximately 20-30 kilometers south of Yerevan). The station was  commissioned in 1976. It was stopped in March 1989 after the Spitak  earthquake in December 1988. It was reintroduced in November 1995 due  to the acute energy crisis in the republic.  Currently, only the  second unit with a capacity of 407.5 MW is operating. On April 19,  2012, the government of Armenia approved the decision to extend the  life of the second power unit of the ANPP for 10 years - until 2026.  For the project, the Russian government provided Armenia with a loan  of $ 270 million and a grant of $ 30 million.