Thursday, October 17 2024 13:24

ArmInfo.The Rosatom State Corporation is ready to offer Armenia various options for the construction of a new nuclear power plant - from NPPs with small modular reactors to the flagship VVER 1200 3+. 

This topic became the central one during the seminar "Rosatom's  Proposals for the Construction of a NPP in Armenia and the  Involvement of Local Industry in the Project" organized by the  Russian side in Yerevan. Addressing the participants of the seminar,  the Director of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant CJSC Movses  Vardanyan noted that, according to the current situation, only the  Russian side has submitted a proposal to build a new station. 

The initiative package consists of 11 volumes. The Director of the  ANPP emphasized that there is a general plan for the site for the new  NPP, on which it will be possible to build two units with a capacity  of 1200 MW. At the same time, the cost of the first unit will be  slightly higher than the second. Vardanyan noted that the problem of  cooling water for the reactor could be solved by building four  cooling towers 220 meters high for the first block and two for the  second. If the corresponding decision is made, almost the entire  volume of construction materials produced in the country will be  needed.

The Director of the ANPP also recalled the currently implemented  program to extend the service life of power unit No. 2, after which  the plant will be able to operate until 2036. Moreover, Vardanyan  continued, a justification is being prepared for extending this  period until 2041. In turn, Gennady Tepkyan, a representative of the  Atomstroyexport company, which is part of the Rosatom State  Corporation, called on the Armenian authorities not to delay making a  final decision, since delays could cost the Armenian people dearly.  He emphasized that the construction of a new NPP will require maximum  effort and resources, and from 10 to 12 thousand people will need to  be involved in its construction. Scientific centers and local  industrial enterprises should be involved in the project.

Meanwhile, the head of the integrated projects department of Rosatom  Yuri Sviridenko spoke about the experience of Rosatom Service in  Armenia and in the world. He noted that the company operates in 15  countries where there are nuclear units of Russian design. Sviridenko  presented in detail the results of the work on the first program for  extending the service life of the second power unit of the ANPP and  the activities to be carried out within the framework of the second  program. Energy, technology and cost assessment experts Alexander  Strelnikov, Andrey Anishchenkov and Mikhail Pelikh presented their  reports on the integration of the new NPP into the energy system of  Armenia, high- and low-power VVER and RITM technologies, and the  distribution of responsibility for the implementation of the NPP  construction project between the customer and the general contractor. 

It was noted, in particular, that the Russian side is ready to offer  Armenia units of various capacities - up to 300, 600 and 1200 MW.  Some of these units are already being used, as they say, "on the  ground", while the construction of others is ongoing. For example, it  is planned to build a 600 MW NPP at the Kola NPP, and NPPs with small  modular reactors will be built in Yakutia and Uzbekistan. But the  1200 MW +3 unit continues to be Rosatom's flagship project.