ArmInfo. Armenia attaches importance to the development of cooperation with the IAEA. This was announced at the meeting with the delegation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), headed by the IAEA Director General, Yukiya Amano, Armenian Foreign Minister Zograb Mnatsakanyan said.
The press service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry told ArmInfo, stressing that since 2018 Armenia has been the deputy chairman of the IAEA managers, the head of the Armenian Foreign Ministry highly appreciated the assistance of the head of the Armenian side in the implementation of this responsible function.
The parties emphasized the need to ensure the duration of such contacts from the point of view of taking practical steps to outline ways to deepen cooperation.The interlocutors discussed the issues of the Armenia- IAEA cooperation agenda, in particular, the extension of the service life of the Metsamor NPP, the development of nuclear energy, as well as nuclear safety issues.Armenia has been a member of the IAEA since 1993. The IAEA exercises control over the only nuclear facility in the country -Armenian nuclear power plant, which continues to implementprograms to extend the life of the second unit.The main objectives of the project are resource recovery andextension of the station to 10 years (until 2026), increasing the levelsafety and efficiency of nuclear power plants.
In the current year, it is envisaged to replace the second turbogenerator, an automatic control system at the station, to carry out repair work on cooling towers. In addition, work will be carried out to prepare for processing the dome of the reactor, which will be subjected to temperature treatment (annealing), in order to increase its strength to resist neutron fluxes. The annealing itself will be carried out in 2020. All work on the project will be completed by the end of 2021. The Armenian NPP consists of two units with Soviet (Russian) VVER 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 was stopped. In November 1995, in connection with the acute energy crisis, the second 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 for 10 years- until 2026. Completion is scheduled for 2021. 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.