Thursday, September 26 2019 15:12

ArmInfo. Armenia is  negotiating with the Russian Federation to attract unused financial  resources from a loan of $ 270 million provided earlier for a program  to extend the life of the second unit of the Armenian nuclear power  plant. The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Armenian Nuclear  Power Plant CJSC, General Director of the Armatom Research Institute,  Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor Vahram Petrosyan announced  this on September 26 at a press conference in Yerevan.

According to him, $ 200 million was used as part of the extension  project, negotiations are ongoing on the remaining $ 70 million.  These funds, the professor continued, are needed to complete the  program. In particular, overhaul of the cooling tower is required, it  is necessary to anneal the metal of the reactor vessel, to improve  the emergency cooling system of the zone. These works are scheduled  for 2021. In case the negotiations fail, the Armenian side will have  to find its own resources, Vahram Petrosyan noted.  Answering a  question from ArmInfo, Vahram Petrosyan said that work is currently  underway to develop a report on further activities of the Armenian  NPP in order to obtain another license from the regulator, taking  into account the program implemented at the station. He recalled that  the current license expires in 2021. As a rule, the Nuclear Safety  Regulatory Committee gives approval for the operation of nuclear  power plants for a period of 10 years. Work on the preparation of the  report has already begun, it is being carried out with the assistance  of the United States, the professor continued, adding that the first  two chapters of the report, which have been sent to the nuclear power  plant on September 25, are ready. After the work on the report is  completed, the document will be sent to the regulator to obtain  another license for a period of 10 years.

Vahram Petrosyan did not rule out the possibility of extending the  term of operation of the nuclear power plant even after 2026. "The  station can work out without problems until 2036," he said, adding  that according to the results of the reactor vessel inspections, it  ca ben stated that it is in good condition.

The main objectives of the project funded by the Russian Federation  to extend the life of the 2nd 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, 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) 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 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 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.