Armenian NPP operation term extended despite EU objections

PanARMENIAN.Net - The operation term of Armenian Nuclear Power Plant will be extended till 2026 despite objections voiced by the EU, Energy Minister Armen Movsisnyan said in an official statement.

The agreement to implement the project on extension of the NPP operation term was reached following the September 3 talks between Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, with Rostatom and Armenian experts to be involved in the project.

Also, Armenian and Belgian experts are working on the stress tests to be performed at the NPP, with the latters having become mandatory after the Japan’s Fukushima disaster.

Also, today (September 13) the government of Armenia decreed to provide a license to Armenian Nuclear Power Plant CJSC for nuclear agents’ export to Russia.

Armenian Nuclear Power Plant has already singed a nuke agents’ export deal with Russia’s TVEL Ltd.

Armenian Nuclear Power Plant, currently operative, was launched in 1976. The plant was shut down over political reasons in 1989, with a 404-megawatt NPP unit relaunched in 1995.

Armenia is planning to build a new 1000-megawatt unit, with an estimated implementation cost of $5 billion.

TVEL Ltd. is a Russian manufacturer of nuclear fuel, with 100% of company’s stocks owned by Atomenergoprom OJSC; the company unites Russian civil nuclear industry.