EU insisting on sooner decommissioning of Armenian NPP

YEREVAN, March 21. /ARKA/. The EU continues insisting on sooner decommissioning of the Armenian NPP, Traian Hristea, Head of EU Delegation to Armenia, said reading the report on Armenia’s progress in implementing the programs of European Neighborhood Policy Armenia-EU. 

In April 2012, the Armenian government extended  the service life of the Armenian nuclear power plant in Metsamor by another ten years.  The government noted, in accordance with the current legislature of Armenia, the commissioning license of the second bloc of the NPP was released in 2011 for 10 years, however, under the commissioning conditions it expires on September 1, 2016.

In fact, the Armenian authorities intend to build a new power plant at the place of the current Armenian NPP. As of now the construction of one 1000- MW power bloc is discussed.

Hristea noted the EU will go on emphasizing the closing of the NPP as its modernization will not make it meet the international standards of nuclear safety.

According to him, it was concerning that Armenia hadn’t introduced any detailed decommissioning program yet.

He also said after the Fukushima-1 disaster, Armenia jointly with the EU assessed the safety and risks of Metsamor NPP. The report will be published in 2013. 

Hristea also noted the EU is ready to support Armenia in the efforts to find some alternative power sources.

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. 

Armenian authorities said they will build a new nuclear power plant to replace the aging Metsamor plant. 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. ($1 – 416. 81 drams). -0-