Armenia in the long term wants to extend the operation of the nuclear power plant by 5-10 years beyond the deadline. As reported by “Sputnik Armenia”, General Director of the station Movses Vardanyan said this to journalists at a conference in Yerevan dedicated to the 55th anniversary of the atomic energy in Armenia.
In 2015-16, with the support of the Rosatom state corporation and with the help of a Russian loan, Armenia carried out significant work to extend the life of the nuclear power plant. Now the repair work is being carried out at the own expense of the Armenian side and is nearing completion.
The currently operating second block of the station was launched in 1980, by 2026 it will operate for 40 years (considering that it had been idle for 6 years, in 1989-95).
“Now, taking into account the experience of other countries, we are preparing to extend the operation of the station for another 5-10 years,” Vardanyan noted.
This year the station will be idle for overhaul for 141 days. At this time, several planned activities will take place: updating the emergency cooling systems (in case of overheating of the reactor), the fire system and the emergency power system (diesel generators in case of a reactor shutdown).
Taking into account all these works, the management of the nuclear power plant is preparing to submit an application to the supervisory authority (“Armgosatomcontrol”) to extend the life of the plant until 2026.