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.
