Armenian, Russian officials approve timetable for extending service life of Armenian NPP in 2017
During a visit to Moscow, Armenian energy infrastructure and natural resources minister Ashot Manukyan and Russian officials approved the timetable of work to be done in 2017 to extend the service life of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant (ANPP).
During the two-day visit on December 7-8, Manukyan met in Moscow with the CEO of the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom Alexei Likhachev, the first deputy head of the corporation Kirill Komarov and senior officials of Rosatom Service. The meeting summed up the results of the first stage of measures to extend the service life of the ANPP, the Armenian ministry said in a statement today.
The Armenian Nuclear Power Plant is located some 30 kilometers west of Yerevan. It was built in the 1970s but was closed following a devastating earthquake in 1988. One of its two VVER 440-V230 light-water reactors was reactivated in 1995. Armenian authorities said they will build a new nuclear power plant to replace the aging facility.
The new plant is supposed to operate at twice the capacity of the Soviet-constructed facility. The plant currently generates some 35 percent of Armenia’s electricity.
In March 2014, Armenian government decided to extend the plant’s service life because of delay in building a new unit. The service life extension has become possible thanks to Russia’s financial resources. The country will provide $270 million to Armenia as loan and $30 million in grants. -0-