Expert on small nuclear power plants: The hardest thing of all is to  find a cat in a dark room, especially if there is no cat

ArmInfo. The hardest thing of all is to find a cat in a dark room, especially if there is  no cat. This saying, attributed to Confucius, could very well apply  to Armenia's nuclear energy sector.

The country's authorities have officially announced their decision to  build a nuclear power plant with small modular reactors (SMRs) in  Armenia. To achieve this goal, a closed joint-stock company,  "Construction and Operation of a New Nuclear Power Plant," has been  established. It will determine the capacity of the new nuclear power  plant, its funding sources, and its subsequent operation.

However, the paradox of the situation is that there are no such  reactors anywhere in the world: they are all either in the design,  construction, or grid connection phases. However, as Armenian Prime  Minister Nikol Pashinyan previously noted, a final decision on this  issue should be made within a year or a year and a half.

Therefore, based on the current global nuclear technology market  situation, it can be concluded that the country's authorities intend  to abandon the idea of using older reference units that have been in  operation for a long time and have proven their effectiveness.

A SMR plant itself is a good idea, as the rated capacity of such  units is up to 300 MW, which is quite acceptable for Armenia. Having  two such SMRs will ensure the country's energy security for many  years to come.

SMRs utilize nuclear fuel more efficiently and have safety features  based on passive systems such as natural circulation, convection,  gravity, and self-pressurization. These features reduce the risk of  accidents, and  are several times cheaper than traditional ones.  Additionally, their prefabrication  speeds up the construction  process as the equipment and components are manufactured  on-site.  However, the problem lies in the fact that that in practice, all of  this is practically nonexistent, especially when it comes to American  technology. Washington's initiative to actively cooperate with  Yerevan on a new nuclear power plant is largely political in nature.  Previously, Maria Longuet, the US government's coordinator for  European and Asian assistance, explicitly stated that the US is  considering building small modular nuclear reactors in Armenia to  reduce dependence on Russia and China.

Meanwhile, in the United States itself, most nuclear power plants  were built between 1967 and 1990; the average reactor age is  approximately 35.6 years, with some already operating for over 50  years. The last units at the Vogl Nuclear Power Plant were  commissioned in 2023 and 2025, more than 30 years later.  There are  93 operating nuclear reactors at 54 nuclear power plants in 28  states. This list does not include a single SMR plant. Furthermore,  one of the first projects to build a SMR plant in the United States  was canceled. NuScael Power Corp. canceled construction of its  mini-NPP in Utah due to soaring costs, which made it impossible to  secure acceptable contracts with customers. However, design and  construction work on SMR plants in the United States continues.  Specifically, Bill Gates is investing in nuclear energy through his  company, Terra Power, which develops advanced nuclear reactors such  as the Natrium reactor.  Total private investment will exceed $1.4  billion.  In an interview with ArmInfo, UN National Energy Expert Ara  Marjanyan noted that the US proposal to Armenia regarding small  modular reactors appears unfounded, ephemeral, and purely political.  Not a single SMR nuclear power plant will be built in the US in the  next five years. "Although it should be noted that this work has  intensified since Donald Trump's second term. However, given the  lengthy licensing process for nuclear technologies, it's unlikely  that the United States will have a similar reactor by 2036.

On the other hand, Russia currently has the necessary technologies.  Moreover, Rosatom is offering Armenia a whole range of proposals for  nuclear units, ranging from SMRs to proven VVER-type reactors.  So,  there's no point in looking for a cat in a dark room, especially if  there is no cat," the expert emphasized, pointing to Russia's SMR  fast-neutron reactor. Marjanyan also noted that France, for example,  will resume nuclear projects only in mid-2026.

It's worth noting that only two SMR nuclear power plants are  currently operating in the world, and they haven't yet proven their  effectiveness on the ground. The most well-known example is China's  Shidaowan Nuclear Power Plant, with its grid-connected  high-temperature gas-cooled HTR-PM reactors. Other operating SMRs  include the world's first floating nuclear power plant, the Akademik  Lomonosov, in Pevek, Russia (two reactors, 35 MW each), and the EGP-6  reactor plant. New SMR-based nuclear power plants are also planned  for various regions of the Russian Federation, including the Kursk,  Kola, and Smolensk nuclear power plants, as well as in the  Chelyabinsk region and Krasnoyarsk Krai. These projects include a  power complex with a BREST-OD-300 reactor as part of the Proryv  project, and nuclear power plants with fast neutron reactors in the  Chelyabinsk region and Krasnoyarsk Krai. The Shelf-M reactor project  is also under development, with the first prototype expected to be  commissioned in 2030. Russia and China are jointly developing the  ACP100 multipurpose small modular reactor project, the first of which  is planned for construction at the Changjiang Nuclear Power Plant  (CNPP).

It should also be noted that there are currently no operating nuclear  power plants with small modular reactors in the world, and only a  dozen projects are in various stages of development. Some of these  have already passed the design stage and are scheduled to begin test  operation within a few years.

Based on the above, it can be concluded that no small nuclear unit  will be built in Armenia by 2036, primarily due to uncertainty. Most  likely, the project to construct a new nuclear power unit by 2040  will be abandoned, and the country's authorities will declare their  preference for building storage stations for existing and  under-construction solar power plants, the combined capacity of  which, as Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has already stated, is  approaching the capacity of two nuclear power plants. And Armenia  will no longer be a country with peaceful nuclear energy, with all  the ensuing international, political, energy, technological and other  consequences.