ArmInfo. Modernization and re-equipment of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant (ANPP) should be carried out properly and in accordance with the established schedule. This was announced by Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of the Republic of Armenia Hakob Vardanyan during his visit to the station.
It should be noted that according to the new structure of the RA government, the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure deals with issues related to the energy sector of Armenia.
According to the press service of the ANPP, the deputy minister familiarized himself with the progress of the work carried out under the extension of the design life of the second power unit of the NPP, and with the process of scheduled preventive maintenance in 2019. Hakob Vardanyan made a walk around the station, visited the turbine workshop, on-site familiarized himself with the progress of the repair and modernization works, as well as with further actions.
Then a meeting was held, during which the programs that are being implemented to modernize and increase the level of safety of the ANPP and the course of the 2019 PPR were discussed. During discussions The Deputy Minister gave a number of instructions, in particular, he urged to be consistent, so that the work on modernization and re-equipment was carried out properly and in accordance with the established schedule.
Earlier in a conversation with the correspondent. ArmInfo Advisor to the General Director of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant Hera Sevikian reported that during the project implementation, contracts were signed for the supply of equipment in the amount of $ 205 million. According to him, the volume of work performed and the equipment delivered is $ 140 million.
The project will increase the capacity of the second power unit by 10-12%, which, in turn, will provide an opportunity to service the Russian loan of $ 270 million without serious consequences. In the current year, as in 2018, a large amount of work will have to be done in the power plant, replaced the second generator and other auxiliary systems. It is also necessary to modernize the reactor control and protection system, which is one of the most important systems. In addition, repair work will be carried out on the upper dome of the reactor, which is prescribed by the station designer in the person of the Russian company Gidropress. Elements of pumps, valves, parts of pipelines will also be replaced. To this end, the reactor will be shut down for scheduled maintenance from April 15, and the turbine to be reconstructed from June of this year. The reactor will stay on repair 110 days, and the turbine to be reconstructed - 5-6 months.
Hera Sevikian also noted that this year they will not be able to fully implement the entire program, for this reason, part of the work will be completed in 2020-2021. According to him, the postponement is due to a later start of work. In particular, a comprehensive survey was conducted, and towards the end of last year, there was a need for additional work. "We, in particular, are talking about the need to restore the metal characteristics of the reactor metal, emergency cooling of the reactor core in case of an accident, these are laborious and lengthy work that we will not have time to do this year," the Deputy Director General of the ANPP said.
Recall that the main objectives of the project to extend the period operation of the 2nd power unit of the Armenian NPP are restoration resource and extension of the station to 10 years (until 2026), improving the safety and efficiency of nuclear power plants. This 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 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.