Unit 2 of the Armenian NPP (ANPP) in Metsamor has been reconnected to the grid one day ahead of schedule following extensive upgrades carried out by Rosatom to again extend the service life of the unit, which currently ends in 2026. The outage began in May.
ANPP was built in the 1970s with two Soviet-supplied VVER-440-V230 units but was closed following a devastating earthquake in 1988. However, unit 2 was recommissioned with Russian help in 1995 following severe energy shortages. Unit 2 now accounts for some 39% of Armenia’s total electricity generation. Unit 1 is being decommissioned.
In March 2014, the Armenian government decided to extend the plant’s service life to 2026. That work, also undertaken by Rosatom, saw the unit’s emergency cooling system, engine room, turbines and steam generators modernised, and annealing of the reactor pressure vessel. In 2021, Rosatom Service and Rosatom institutes annealed the reactor vessel, restoring the metal properties of the casing by 85% enabling its further operation.
The modernisation was mostly implemented under a loan agreement signed between Armenia and Russia in 2015. However, in 2020, the Armenian government decided to provide a loan worth AMD 63.2bn ($131m) from the state budget to extend the operating life of unit 2 at the Armenian nuclear power plant. Citing economic considerations, the Armenian government said it would use only 60% of a $270m Russian loan intended to finance the modernisation. The Armenian government subsequently adopted a decision to extend the operation of the Armenian NPP until 2036. In December 2023, Rosatom Service and ANPP signed an agreement to carry out the relevant work.
During the latest scheduled preventive maintenance (PPR – Planovo Predulredittelnovo Remonta) buildings and structures, electrical equipment and the refuelling machine were inspected. Pre-design surveys and baseline data collection were undertaken for further design. Specialists from Rosatom Service and other industry organisations put into operation a new cooling system for the security system and also organised the supply of spare parts and the provision of services for the PPR.
“Rosatom continues to carry out preparatory work to re-extend the life of the country’s only NPP,” said Rosatom Service Director General Evgeniy Salkov. “This relates, first of all, to improving the level of security of its key systems. Currently, we have successfully implemented all the activities planned within the framework of the PPR, which is preparing the station for another ten years of service life.”
ANPP said the work “aimed at improving the technical condition of the plant’s equipment, strengthening operational safety and achieving the goals of extending the operational life of the power unit”. As well as specialists from ANPP and Russia, the work involved organisations from Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Ukraine.
In June, officials from the European Union (EU) and the USA visited the plant as part of measures to support nuclear safety. This followed the launch of a $3.4m upgrade to the plant’s full-scope simulator originally commissioned in 2013 with the support of the EU and Slovak company VUJE. The upgrades were undertaken by US company WSC, Armatom SRI CJSC and Galaktika.
