ArmInfo. In Yerevan, a meeting of the Management Board of programs implemented on credit and grant funds provided to the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures of Armenia by foreign countries and international credit organizations was held.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures of Armenia, the meeting was chaired by the head of the Ministry Suren Papikyan.
During the meeting, with the participation of the heads of several companies of the system and the responsible ministries, issues related to prolongation of a term of the second power unit of the Armenian NPP and the activities, tender processes stipulated by the modernization program were discussed. A number of organizational issues were discussed, on which relevant instructions were given.
The main objectives of the project funded by the Russian Federation to prolongation the term of the 2nd power unit of the Armenian nuclear power plant 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, an automatic control system, and carry out repairs on 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 prolong the life 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.