Reconstruction of Armenian nuclear power plant to begin in 2017

YEREVAN, January 14. / ARKA /. The reconstruction of the Armenian NPP will begin in the spring of 2017 and will last for about six months, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Yervand Zakaryan told a news conference today.

The minister recalled that in late December 2014 Russia's government confirmed its intention to extend a $270-million loan and a $30 million grant to Armenia for extending the service life of the second unit of the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant until 2016.

He said also the loan will be provided with a 3 percent interest rate and will be repayable in 15 years.

The minister said the program will be implemented in three stages. The first preparatory stage  has already begun by Russian nuclear agency Rosatomservice on the basis of an agreement signed by the sides in late December. The financial agreement will be signed in late February by finance ministers of the two countries, he said.

The minister said  the preparatory work will be carried out in 2015-2016  to get prepared for starting the reconstruction in 2017 spring.

"According to preliminary estimates, the reconstruction will last for about six months, but more specific terms will be known after the completion of the preparatory work and specification of the real amount of planned activities," said Zakaryan.

He said also that the construction of a new power unit is scheduled to begin in 2018 and be over in 2026 that will allow to shut down the operating unit.

The Metsamor plant located some 30 kilometers west of Yerevan, was built in the 1970s but was closed following a devastating earthquake in 1988 that killed some 25,000 people and devastated much of northern Armenia. 

One of the plant’s two VVER 440-V230 light-water reactors was reactivated in 1995.  The government wants to build a new facility that 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 as much as $5 billion.-0-