ArmInfo. Narek Apitonyan, Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia, introduced Garik Nalbandyan, Acting Director of Construction of a New Nuclear Power Unit, CJSC, to the heads of Armenian energy companies.
As a reminder, the company was established by a government decision in August 2024 to manage the new power unit construction project, i.e., to be its executor.
During the meeting, the participants discussed a number of pressing issues related to current work in the energy sector, existing problems, and further cooperation.
As a reminder, Construction of a New Nuclear Power Unit, CJSC must conduct a comparative study of all proposed technologies and feasibility studies, based on which it will submit a professional proposal for the selection of a technology. After the proposal Once approved by the Armenian government, the company will be required to negotiate and prepare documents related to the construction, financing, ownership, and operation of a new nuclear power unit or units following the adoption of the law on the construction of a new nuclear power unit.
Depending on the stages of the above-mentioned work, the CJSC must be staffed with the appropriate personnel and subsequently become the operator upon completion of the new unit. During the preparatory stage in 2024, approximately 800 million drams were allocated for the establishment and operation of the company, with an additional 800 million drams allocated in subsequent years.
It should be noted that the life extension program for Unit 2 of the Armenian NPP is designed to operate the plant until 2036, with the possibility of further discussions on an extension until 2046. The first stage of the extension program (until 2026) was carried out with financial support from Russia ($270 million loan and $30 million grant). The main work was aimed at modernizing the equipment and justifying the safety of Unit 2 until 2026. In December 2023, Armenian Nuclear Power Plant CJSC and Rosatom Service JSC signed a formal agreement to extend the plant's service life for another 10 years. Approximately $165 million from funds saved during the first phase of the project was allocated for this purpose.
Armenia's leadership and the NPP management are considering operating the power unit until 2041-2046, subject to all assessments and approval by the IAEA.
A decision on the new plant must be made during this period. At the same time, nuclear reactor models proposed by Russia, the United States, France, China, and South Korea are being studied.
At the beginning of the year, the country's authorities announced a conceptual decision to build a nuclear power plant with small modular reactors, but in October of this year, Pashinyan did not rule out the construction of a conventional nuclear power plant. Days earlier, Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev stated that Rosatom was receiving positive signals from Armenia regarding its proposal to build a new power unit there.
