Armenia needs 600MW NPP - ex-premier 

ArmInfo. Armenia cannot do without nuclear energy, Armenia's ex-premier Hrant Bagratyan told  ArmInfo.

Justifying his position, the ex-prime minister pointed to significant  reductions in oil and gas reserves, which, moreover, are quite  expensive compared to nuclear fuel. At the same time, Bagratyan  considered the possibility of replacing nuclear power with  alternative energy sources, including solar and wind energy,  inappropriate, since we are talking about basic power, which  renewable and alternative energy sources simply do not have. "Of  course, nuclear energy has prospects in the country, but the question  is how to manage it, especially if we are talking about good fuel,  the reserves of which far exceed oil and gas reserves. Lately there  has been a lot of talk about thermonuclear energy, I am not an  expert, but it is possible that it will replace nuclear energy, but  this is a matter of distant prospects," the former prime minister  said.

Bagratyan also pointed to the possibility of building units with  small modular reactors, in the creation of which the Russian  Federation has achieved the greatest success. In addition, it is  necessary to take into account the established logistics for the  supply of nuclear fuel from the Russian Federation, which is simply  impossible to do if we are talking about American analogues. It must  also be borne in mind that today it is the Russians and the Chinese  who dominate the development and use of small-scale rockets. "It is  also important to take into account the fact that the construction of  SMRs is an expensive undertaking; investments in the amount of $8  million are required to create 1 MW of power," the former prime  minister emphasized, adding that SMRs cannot replace a full-fledged  nuclear power plant, and for this the republic needs a stationary  unit with a capacity of 600 MW. If this is not done, then in 10 years  the Armenian nuclear power plant will have to be closed.

Despite the talk about small modular reactors, which include reactors  with a power of no more than 300 MW, they are largely presented only  on paper. They are being developed by 19 countries, including Russia,  South Korea, China, the USA, Argentina, Great Britain, etc.  Currently, there is more and more talk about the possibility of  building American modules in Armenia. The first steps on this path  were taken back in May 2022, when RA Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan  and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed a memorandum of  cooperation in the field of nuclear energy. A year later, the United  States officially announced the possibility of building small nuclear  reactors in Armenia. Last June, a working group visited the United  States to familiarize itself with American technologies.

The RA government is inclined to build small modular reactors, but  the main obstacle on this path is that currently there are no  operating nuclear power plants of this type in the world. For many,  including American companies, everything is in the development stage.  South Korea has also expressed interest in providing Armenia with  modular power units with a capacity of 170 MW, which are similar in  design to American ones, but the problem is that this development has  not yet been licensed. It is for this reason that the RA government,  which gives preference to the reference bloc, is in no hurry to make  a final decision on the new bloc. Moreover, the stationary unit with  a capacity of 1200 MW proposed by the Russian side may simply not fit  into the country's energy system, the entire energy potential of  which falls within 1000 MW.

Based on this, ArmInfo analysts believe that the service life of the  current power unit of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant, closer to  2036, will once again be extended until 2040, after which the station  will be closed, and this will make the history of the Armenian  nuclear energy a thing of the past. In December last year, the  Armenian government decided to allocate $65 million from the  country's state budget to re-extend the operating life of the second  power unit of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant - until 2036. Work to  implement the program is carried out by Rusatom Service, with which a  corresponding agreement has been concluded. The customer of the  project is the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant, which received  government funds in the form of a budget loan.