On 16 November, Alexey Likhachev, ROSATOM Director General, visited the Armenian NPP on the occasion of Unit 2 modernization and life extension completion.
Alexey Likhachev made a tour of the site, turbine hall and control room. After that he took part in the award ceremony held to honor the NPP best employees and the ceremony of planting trees of ROSATOM alley on the ANPP site.
Gnel Sanosyan, Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures, represented the Republic of Armenia; Eduard Martirosyan, Director General of HAEK CJSC, Movses Vardanyan, First Deputy Director General – Director of the Armenian NPP, and Artur Grigoryan, the ANPP Chief Engineer represented Haykakan Atomayin Elektrakayan CJSC. The delegation of the Russian Federation included Evgeny Salkov, Director General of Rusatom Service JSC (the key contractor for the ANPP modernization), Vladimir Bredov, Deputy Director General for Project Management, and Yuri Sviridenko, Head of the Integrated Projects Department.
The NPP operational life has been extended till 2026. This is the key Armenian-Russian project in the nuclear power industry. The main task of the project was to retrofit the Armenian NPP and improve its safety and efficiency.
"I am proud of our participation in the project that helped make the Armenian nuclear power plant safer and more efficient. Together, as a team of professionals, including specialists of the Armenian NPP, repair companies, research institutes, Armenian and Russian engineering and design organizations, as well as manufacturers of NPP equipment, we did a tremendous amount of work replacing and modernizing the equipment. Due to the completed set of the project activities, Unit 2 of the Armenian NPP now meets the most recent international requirements, and the NPP will continue supplying electricity to the citizens of Armenia" noted Alexey Likhachev.
According to the results of the research and tests done by specialists of Rosatom the technical parameters of Unit 2 of the ANPP allow operating the unit for another 10 years. "The Armenian NPP plays a decisive role for the national energy security and independence. It would be no exaggeration to highlight this large-scale project among the most important ones in Armenia," said Gnel Sanosyan. “We will not stop at this point but rather set new goals of extending the ANPP operation life for another 10 years after 2026 and further developing the industry by constructing a new NPP."
Since the start of the plant modernization in 2015 a great amount of work was done to improve the NPP safety, inspect and replace its equipment. This made possible 15% increase of the Unit's capacity while keeping the original nuclear fuel consumption rate. One of the most important tasks completed at the NPP was the reactor vessel annealing which resulted in 85% restoration of the metal properties.
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ROSATOM is a diversified holding company owing assets in the energy, mechanical engineering, and construction sectors. Its strategy is aimed at developing low-carbon generation, including wind energy. Rosatom is the national leader in electricity production (accounting for over 20% of the total generation). It has the largest backlog of orders for the construction of nuclear power plants in the world: 35 power units are at different stages of completion in 12 countries. Rosatom is the only company in the world that has competences in the entire technological chain of the nuclear fuel cycle, from natural uranium mining to the final stage of the nuclear facility life cycle. Rosatom's business area includes innovative nuclear and non-nuclear products, research work, the development of the Northern Sea Route and environmental projects, in particular the creation of eco-industrial parks and a state system for handling hazardous industrial waste. Rosatom comprises more than 300 enterprises and organizations, which employ over 275 thousand people. Since October 2020, Rosatom has been a member of the United Nations Global Compact, the major UN international initiative in the area of ??corporate social responsibility and sustainable development.
The Armenian NPP is the only nuclear power plant in the South Caucasus, accounting for more than a third of all electricity generated in Armenia. The key Armenian-Russian project in the nuclear power industry is the modernization and life extension of Unit 2 at the Armenian NPP. Armenia has gained unique experience in operating the ANPP. Unit 2 was recommissioned after a 6.5-year lay-up. The plant is essential for the development of the Armenian power system and its social and economic life. Rusatom Service JSC acted as the general contractor in the ANPP project launched to modernize and extend the opertional life of the plant, and improve its safety and efficiency.