Armenia and Russia sign framework agreement on extension of service life of Armenian NPP until 2036

YEREVAN, December 15. /ARKA/. The Armenian and Russian governments signed today a framework agreement on extension of the service life of the Armenian nuclear power plant for another 10 years until 2026.

The agreement was signed during the session of the Armenian-Russian commission on economic cooperation in Yerevan.

"Cooperation in the field of peaceful use of atomic energy is an extremely important issue in our bilateral relations,’ Russian Deputy Prime Minister and co-chairman of the commission Alexey Overchuk said.

On December 14, the Armenian government approved an agreement between the Armenian NPP and Rusatom Service Company (a division of Rosatom State Corporation) on extending the plant's operation period until 2036. The work will be carried out in 2023-2026.

The government approved also Thursday the allocation of $65 million to extend the service life of the facility.

The Armenian nuclear power plant, the only one in the South Caucasus region, is located near the town of Metsamor, about 30 kilometers west of Yerevan. It accounts for about 40% of the country's electricity generation.

The government has already extended the facility's lifespan by ten years until 2026 after a major modernization and technical upgrade.

Armenian authorities want to build a new nuclear power plant with a capacity of about 1000-1200 MW. Several options are being considered - either construction of a power unit with a capacity of about 1000 or 1200 MW, or two units of 1000 MW each.

Tentatively, the new NPP will be built on the territory adjacent to the existing NPP (about 80 hectares) and will allow using part of the existing infrastructure. -0-