Strategy for Armenian NPP decommissioning to be presented in the next two months

30.05.2007 // REGNUM

In the next two months the Energy Ministry of Armenia will submit to the Government a strategy for Armenian NPP decommissioning

During a meeting of the Nuclear Safety Council on May 30 President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan said that in the next two months the Energy Ministry of Armenia will submit to the Government a strategy for Armenian NPP decommissioning. He noted that this document has been drafted under the EU technical support program.

To note, the Concept for the Development of Power Engineering in Armenia till 2025 stipulates that the existing unit of Armenian NPP should be replaced with units of new generation. “Our intentions to preserve and develop nuclear power engineering are reflected in the recently adopted amendments to the Law “On Energy,” which have removed barriers to the foreign and private capital inflow into our nuclear power sector,” Kocharyan said. ArmInfo news agency reports Kocharyan as noting that the constant enhancement of the safety of Armenian NPP till the full decommissioning of its unit has been and is a top priority for the Government and the President of Armenia.

Earlier, Deputy Energy Minister of Armenia Areg Galstyan said that a special Armenian-Russian task force was considering the possibilities of constructing a new NPP in Armenia. The group will first study the feasibility of this project and then will consider the possible site for the new NPP. “This is hard and long work. As soon as we do it, we will see on what terms the plant will be built and what capacity it will have,” Galstyan said.

To remind, during his last visit to Yerevan the head of Rosatom Sergey Kiriyenko said that the Russian side was ready not only to help Armenia to build the new NPP but also to finance that project. The estimated cost of the project is $2bln. The “green-field” decommissioning of the existing NPP will require $240mln. The service life of Armenian NPP expires in 2016 but under the European Neighborhood Policy Armenia has pledged to decommission it as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the plant produces almost half of the country’s electricity. Armenian NPP (two units with a total capacity of 815 MW) was shut down in 1988. The 2nd unit (407.5 MW) was restarted in 1995. In 2003 the plant was committed to the trust of Inter RAO UES for five years. Armenia’s key purpose was to solve the problem of debts. Inter RAO UES, TVEL and the Energy Ministry of Armenia have drafted a relevant debt restructuring mechanism. RAO UES has repaid the plant’s $40mln debts to Russian fuel supplies. Armenia has already compensated for $25mln.