Rosatom: Turkish concerns over Armenian NPP safety groundless

In late December 2014, Russia and Armenia signed a cooperation agreement to prolong operation of the second unit of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant till 2026.

On February 5, the countries signed another agreement, under which Russia will lend $270 million to Armenia and provide $30million as а grant.

As deputy minister of energy and natural resources Areg Galsyan said, presenting the matter to the legislators, the loan will be extended for 15 years with a five-year grace period at 3% annual interest rate. The agreement also allows lending in Russian rubles.

“The loan will be repaid from the money received from the plant-generated electricity sales,” he said adding that this will drive power price per one kilowatt-hour 2.5 drams up.

The reconstruction is planned to be launched in spring 2017 and will last around six months.

The deputy energy minister said that the reconstruction will be implemented in two stages.

Technical examination of the state of the equipment will be carried out at the first stage; the modernization program will be based on the results of the examination and final costs will be tallied.

Galstyan said that the plant will be reviewed for compliance with the set norms.

“I mean the reactor, particularly metal on the nuclear island, which are regularly examined and never gave cause for alarm; new examinations will be carried out with the use of the most modern equipment that will allow checking all nuances, and there are all chances for successful work,” he said.

The second stage will be focused on modernization itself. Russia has also expressed willingness to contribute to the new unit construction estimated to cost $4.5 billion by providing equipment.

In particular, Russia will give the nuclear island to Armenia as contribution to the construction.

The construction of a new 1000-MWt unit for the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant is planned to start in 2018 or 2019.

Missing financial resources are expected to come from other countries as a financial assistance.

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. The plant currently generates some 40 percent of Armenia's electricity.