Government approves early termination of contract for trust management of Armenian NPP with INTER RAO UES
01.03.2012,
15:58
The Armenian government on Thursday approved early termination of a contract on trust management of the Armenian nuclear power plant with Russian INTER RAO UES.
YEREVAN, March 1. /ARKA/. The Armenian government on Thursday approved early termination of a contract on trust management of the Armenian nuclear power plant with Russian INTER RAO UES.
RAO UES was granted control of Metsamor’s finances in 2003 in return for repaying the Soviet-era facility’s $40 million debts to Russian nuclear fuel suppliers. Inter RAO UES has since controlled the nuclear plant’s cash flows.
The latter’s five-year management contract with the Armenian government was prolonged in 2008 and was due to expire in 2013. The Armenian ministry of energy and natural resources will be assigned to sign an agreement with INTER RAO UES on early termination of the contract.Inter RAO, which is a subsidiary of RAO Unified Energy Systems (UES) said last year it would like to terminate the contract because of “drastically increased risks” in nuclear energy.
"INTER RAO UES has fully complied with its objectives and proved itself as a trusted partner. In these circumstances the continuation of the trust management contract is largely a formality," the Armenian ministry said in an earlier statement. It also said the termination of the contract will not affect the operation of the NPP.
The Metsamor plant, which accounts for about 40 percent of Armenia's electricity, is located some 30 kilometers west of Yerevan. It 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 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 Metsamor plant. The Armenian 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. With a projected capacity of 1,000-1,200 megawatts, the new facility would be more than twice as powerful as Metsamor’s sole operating reactor. -0-
