ArmInfo. The license to operate the dry storage facility for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) of the Armenian NPP will be extended for another 30 years. This was announced on August 30 at a meeting with reporters, answering a question from ArmInfo, Ashot Martiroian, Chairman of the Nuclear Safety CommitҐҐ under the Government of the Republic of Armenia.
He recalled that in 2000 the Committee issued a license to the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant for a period of 20 years, and its validity expires next year. As a rule, Ashot Martirosyan continued, spent nuclear fuel can be stored in such storage facilities for 300 years. Nevertheless, a license is issued for a period of 50-70 years, however, taking into account the importance of periodically conducting additional studies with a view to ensuring safety, the Committee issued a license to the Armenian NPP for a period of 20 years. Currently, the storage is only 20% full. Of course, as the Chairman of the Committee noted, in this case, we are talking about a storage facility with low-level spent nuclear fuel, while today we should think about storage facilities with medium-active spent fuel.
Answering ArmInfo's question about the prospects of SNF removal from the station to the territory of Russia, which was announced at a meeting of the Joint Coordinating Committee for the implementation of the program to extend the life of the second power unit of the Armenian NPP, Ashot Martirosyan pointed out the political part of this project. He emphasized that SNF can be exported exclusively by rail, this probability is reduced to zero in the territory of Azerbaijan, and in Georgia it is fraught with problems in Abkhazia. However, as Ashot Martirosyan noted, if the issue is resolved at the political level, it will be possible to think about the technical side of solving the problem.
The Chairman of the Committee is also skeptical about the possibility of building a "repository" for spent nuclear fuel in Armenia. "This issue requires careful research, the problem here is the availability of appropriate areas in Armenia, conducting geological, geological-chemical and environmental assessments," Ashot Martirosyan said.
It should be noted that according to the official website of the Nuclear Safety CommitҐҐ under the Government of the Republic of Armenia, the dry storage facility for spent nuclear fuel of the Armenian nuclear power plant was used until 2020. On August 1, 2000 the federal inspectorate for nuclear and radiation safety authority of the Republic issued a license for the operation of the storage facility by the Armenian NPP for a period of 20 years. NUHOMS-56 type storage consists of 11 horizontal modules with 616 insulating containers. In 2005, the Armenian parliament decided to expand the storage, which makes it possible to store up to 1890 containers for at least 50 years. To recall, a program is currently being implemented at the Armenian NPP to extend the life of the second unit. The main objectives of the project are to restore the resource and extend the operation of the station to 10 years (until 2026), increase the level of safety and efficiency of nuclear power plants.
This year, it is planned to replace the second turbogenerator at the station, the automatic control system, and carry out repair work on the cooling towers. In addition, work will be carried out to prepare for the treatment of the reactor dome, which will be heat treated (annealed) in order to increase its strength to resist neutron fluxes. 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) WWER reactors. The first unit was commissioned in 1976, the second - in 1980. In March 1989, after the Spitak earthquake, the station 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 activated. In March 2014, the Armenian government decided to extend deadline of the second power unit by 10 years - until 2026. The Government of the Russian Federation allocated Armenia for this purpose a state export loan in the amount of $ 270 million and a grant of $ 30 million.