ArmInfo.On November 5, 1995, the second power unit of the Armenian NPP was restarted after an idle period of six and a half years. The decision to restart the Armenian nuclear power plant helped Armenia to cope with the economic crisis of the 90s, when the country, among other serious problems, experienced an acute shortage of electricity.
"The resumption of the operation of the Armenian NPP is a clear example of the fact that the NPP is a real guarantor of the energy independence and security of Armenia. Today the share of the Armenian NPP in the energy system of the republic is approaching 40%. The preservation and development of nuclear energy is of strategic importance for us. In addition, in connection with the current situation in the region, it is worth noting that ensuring the safety of the Armenian nuclear power plant, as the only operating nuclear power plant in the region, is our priority and follows from the interests of regional security. operation of the station until 2026, "said Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures of the Republic of Armenia Suren Papikyan.
It is a unique case in the world practice that after a complete shutdown a nuclear power plant was reconnected to the power system after such a long downtime. All work on restarting the Armenian NPP was carried out in the shortest possible time - within 2.5 years. Already at the inspection stage, it became clear that the first power unit could not be restored due to corrosion damage. The second was restored due to the quality of the metal of the inner surface of the reactor vessel, which has a two-layer protective surfacing made of corrosion-resistant steel. This ensured the safety of the reactor vessel during its downtime. In general, a complete inspection of systems and equipment was carried out at the station, the technical condition and functionality of all systems were restored, the equipment was modernized to improve safety characteristics. As a result, the safety level of the currently operating power unit No. 2 has been significantly increased compared to the state of the ANPP before its shutdown in 1989 and is as close as possible to international requirements.
"More than a hundred large and about a thousand small measures have been developed and implemented, aimed at improving the safety and reliability of the plant. Armenian nuclear scientists have shown high professionalism. The work was carried out jointly with Russian enterprises.
- developers and designers of reactor equipment - design bureau "Gidropress", NRC "Kurchatov Institute", machine-building plant "ZiO Podolsk", Kirov machine-building plant. International organizations, in particular the IAEA, were also involved. We did all this for the first time in history. And it was, without exaggeration, a colossal experience and contribution to the development of the entire nuclear industry at the world level, "says Gera Sevikyan, a direct participant in the restart of the Armenian NPP, advisor to the plant director.
The decision to stop the work of the station was made after the Spitak earthquake. And although the station was not damaged and was fully operational, the country's leadership was forced to take this step, because a couple of years before that there was an accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The world was still experiencing fear from this event. During the shutdown of the Armenian NPP, electricity was mainly produced by thermal power plants, which, due to interruptions in the supply of fuel, could provide only 10- 15% of the electricity needed for the country. This led to a complete collapse of the energy system and affected every Armenian family. The restoration of the second power unit of the plant marked the beginning of Armenia's withdrawal from the so-called "blackout". The Armenian nuclear power plant allowed to increase electricity generation by a quarter.
Now the Armenian NPP is going through a new, extremely important stage in its history. Work was carried out at the station to extend its service life until 2026, and specialists are already studying the possibilities of further extending its service life. This gives hope that the "dark years" in the history of Armenia will no longer be repeated.
