Minister: Armenian Nuclear Power Plant closure is economic, not political issue
18.10.2017,
12:43
David Harutyunyan, Armenian justice minister, commenting Tuesday on the content of the new framework agreement between Armenia and the European Union, said that the demand to close the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant's unit is economically, not politically motivated.
YEREVAN, October 18. /ARKA/. David Harutyunyan, Armenian justice minister, commenting Tuesday on the content of the new framework agreement between Armenia and the European Union, said that the demand to close the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant's unit is economically, not politically motivated.
The text of the comprehensive agreement between Armenia and the European Union, which was published Friday on the Armenian foreign ministry’s website, has aroused outcry among Armenian experts and journalists, who feared that the European Union could demand closure of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant. The agreement is expected to be signed in November 2017.
«The issue of closure of Armenian Nuclear Power Plant's unit is not impacted by political factors – it is due solely to things at the energy resources market, prices for electric energy and volumes of consumption,» Harutyunyan said.
He told journalists that there can be only two possible scenarios – decrease in prices for energy resources or electric energy.
In his words, the government approves a long-term development strategy, taking into account the chosen scenario, new technologies, their cost, climate changes and other factors.
Harutyunyan stressed that the plant generates the cheapest electric energy, but only with its present unit - construction of a new unit would change things and make the electric power cost more expensive.
In his opinion, this is especially important in the context of the lack of enriched uranium in Armenia, since make the country dependant on producers of raw materials.
The minister said that the authorities consider different aspects of this issue – they also consider room for applying different construction technologies and the mathematical model for gauging productivity of the most acceptable way of energy production for final consumers.
He didn't rule out probability of construction of a not so powerful unit or a solar station. He also didn't rule out probability of construction of a nuclear power station, having thermal stations in stock, but taking into account prices for natural gas.
«In such large programs economic effectiveness is very important, since the cost is paid by final consumers, and a not transparent instrument, which is due to political factors, are not acceptable to us in this case,» Hatutyunyan said.
The Armenian 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 600-megawatt nuclear power plant to replace the aging facility. The construction is planned to be launched in 2018 or 2019.
The project is estimated to cost $5 billion. Russia earlier expressed its willingness to pay a part of construction cost by providing products and equipment.
The remaining cost is planned to be paid from the financial resources expected to be provided by other countries. --0---
The text of the comprehensive agreement between Armenia and the European Union, which was published Friday on the Armenian foreign ministry’s website, has aroused outcry among Armenian experts and journalists, who feared that the European Union could demand closure of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant. The agreement is expected to be signed in November 2017.
«The issue of closure of Armenian Nuclear Power Plant's unit is not impacted by political factors – it is due solely to things at the energy resources market, prices for electric energy and volumes of consumption,» Harutyunyan said.
He told journalists that there can be only two possible scenarios – decrease in prices for energy resources or electric energy.
In his words, the government approves a long-term development strategy, taking into account the chosen scenario, new technologies, their cost, climate changes and other factors.
Harutyunyan stressed that the plant generates the cheapest electric energy, but only with its present unit - construction of a new unit would change things and make the electric power cost more expensive.
In his opinion, this is especially important in the context of the lack of enriched uranium in Armenia, since make the country dependant on producers of raw materials.
The minister said that the authorities consider different aspects of this issue – they also consider room for applying different construction technologies and the mathematical model for gauging productivity of the most acceptable way of energy production for final consumers.
He didn't rule out probability of construction of a not so powerful unit or a solar station. He also didn't rule out probability of construction of a nuclear power station, having thermal stations in stock, but taking into account prices for natural gas.
«In such large programs economic effectiveness is very important, since the cost is paid by final consumers, and a not transparent instrument, which is due to political factors, are not acceptable to us in this case,» Hatutyunyan said.
The Armenian 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 600-megawatt nuclear power plant to replace the aging facility. The construction is planned to be launched in 2018 or 2019.
The project is estimated to cost $5 billion. Russia earlier expressed its willingness to pay a part of construction cost by providing products and equipment.
The remaining cost is planned to be paid from the financial resources expected to be provided by other countries. --0---
