Armenian Nuclear Power Plant ceases operating for regular repair
25.09.2013,
13:50
Armenian Nuclear Power Plant was brought to a halt on September 22 for a regular repair, the press office of the Armenian energy and natural resources ministry, reported on Wednesday.
YEREVAN, September 25. /ARKA/. Armenian Nuclear Power Plant was brought to a halt on September 22 for a regular repair, the press office of the Armenian energy and natural resources ministry, reported on Wednesday.
According to the report, the repair will last 54 days and the plant will resume operation on November 16.
Capital repair is held here once in every four years. Every year the plant consumes 90 nuclear fuel cartridges provided by Russia’s corporation producing nuclear fuel. Specialists say the plant can operate until 2016.
The Armenian Metsamor 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 say 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. Metsamor currently generates some 40 percent of Armenia's electricity. But the government has yet to attract funding for the project that was estimated by a U.S.-funded feasibility study to cost at as much as $5 billion.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said September 3 after talks with his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan in the Russian capital that experts from Russian state nuclear company Rosatom and their Armenian peers agreed to work on a project to extend the service life of the Armenian nuclear power plant in Metsamor for another 10 years until 2026. ---0---
According to the report, the repair will last 54 days and the plant will resume operation on November 16.
Capital repair is held here once in every four years. Every year the plant consumes 90 nuclear fuel cartridges provided by Russia’s corporation producing nuclear fuel. Specialists say the plant can operate until 2016.
The Armenian Metsamor 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 say 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. Metsamor currently generates some 40 percent of Armenia's electricity. But the government has yet to attract funding for the project that was estimated by a U.S.-funded feasibility study to cost at as much as $5 billion.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said September 3 after talks with his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan in the Russian capital that experts from Russian state nuclear company Rosatom and their Armenian peers agreed to work on a project to extend the service life of the Armenian nuclear power plant in Metsamor for another 10 years until 2026. ---0---
