Inter RAO plans not to hamper Armenian NPP operation - official

PanARMENIAN.Net - The discontent of Inter RAO UES Russian holding with the conditions offered by the Armenian side for the management of the nuclear power plant will by no means affect the security of the NPP, a local official said.

“As a person in charge of security, I can assure that the holding’s plans to terminate the agreement will not have any impact on the work of the plant,” chairman of the nuclear safety regulatory committee at the RA government, Ashot Martirosyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

According to him, it’s a merely financial issue, with the share of Inter RAO UES being not large.

Earlier, Inter RAO plans to terminate the agreement on operation of the Armenian NPP

Meanwhile, Rosatom, which is the only alternative to Inter RAO in Armenia, is interested in construction of a new power unit in Armenia instead of running the plant.

Inter RAO UES began negotiations with Armenia regarding the modification of conditions under which it runs the nuke plant. According to a source, nuclear-power engineering is “a non-core activity with dramatically increasing risks.”

The Armenian NPP was commissioned in 1976. Currently, only its second unit with a capacity of 407.5 MWatt operates. According to specialists, the NPP can be exploited until 2016.

The plant has been managed by Inter RAO UES since 2003, the agreement expiring in 2013.