ArmInfo. In 2027, the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant will be shut down for scheduled preventive maintenance for a period of 55 days. Armenian NPP Director General Eduard Martirosyan told journalists about this on September 9.
According to him, the scope of work planned for next year is incomparable with the amount of work carried out in 2026, when the plant was idle for 5 months. During that period, a large-scale modernization of the NPP’s second power unit was carried out. Foreign experts even noted that it would have taken 6 years to carry out a similar amount of work at one of the European nuclear power plants. ""I do not want to praise anyone; our work will be assessed by IAEA specialists, who regularly visit the plant. Show me at least one nuclear power plant where 20 major activities were carried out during 153 days of shutdown, as was done at the Armenian NPP," Eduard Martirosyan noted.
In particular, during the maintenance campaign at the plant’s second power unit, the cooling systems of the plant’s main components were replaced, and about 20 other components were repaired. In addition, construction of a new outdoor switchyard connecting the NPP to Armenia’s high-voltage grid was completed. Due to the large volume of work this year, the plant was shut down for 153 days, whereas scheduled maintenance usually takes 45-50 days. The NPP is currently operating normally. Repairs to one of the cooling towers have been fully completed, while work on the second is nearing completion. At the same time, an assessment of the reactor’s technical condition is continuing. Metal samples from its vessel have been sent to Russia for examination. The results will help assess the extent to which the power unit’s operating life can be extended. Its operating life is currently set through 2036, but the possibility of extending it by another ten years—to 2046—is being considered. According to preliminary estimates, the studies in Russia will take two to three months. They involve the OKB "Gidropress," the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute," and other organizations.
The director general emphasized that the launch of data centers in Armenia in the coming years will change electricity consumption volumes. He noted that nearly 1,200 megawatts of solar power plants have been commissioned to date, which also affect the energy system, but the nuclear power plant is basic infrastructure. At the same time, Eduard Martirosyan urged people not to worry about the unit’s safety, a matter repeatedly raised by Baku and Ankara. "No one should be more concerned about the safety of the Armenian NPP than I am; I am the top official responsible for it.
The NPP is the property of Armenia, and it is obliged to take good care of it," the director general said.
It should be noted that maintenance work at the NPP is being carried out as part of the program for the repeated extension of the operating life of the Armenian NPP’s second power unit. The RA government allocated $165 million for its implementation, saved as a result of the first program. The main goal of the new program is to extend the operating life of the second power unit by another 10 years— until 2036. By that time, a new nuclear power unit should be built in the country.
