Levitin: Armenia’s nuclear power plant enables Armenia and Russia to step up their cooperation in energy sector

YEREVAN, October 15. /ARKA/. Armenia’s nuclear power plant in Metsamor enables Armenia and Russia to step up their cooperation in energy sector, Igor Levitin, the Russian president’s advisor who long years led the Armenian-Russian intergovernmental commission, said Saturday in Yerevan. 

“Our relations in this area very firm, and there is a good potential for developing them by using atomic energy,” he said answering ARKA News Agency’s question. 

Leviting said that Armenia can generate more electric power by using new technologies in the atomic energy. 

He said the two countries’ presidents gave appropriate instructions to the ministers when they met earlier this year.

Armenia plans to build a new unit for the NPP which is expected to be commissioned in 2019-2020. In order to attract foreign investors,  the Armenian parliament in 2006 abolished the state monopoly on ownership of new nuclear power units. 

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 said 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. -0-