Western technologies or preservation of Russia's dominance: DW on Armenia's plans to build new nuclear power plant

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YEREVAN, 17 July. /ARKA/. Deutsche Welle has published annbsp;a href=https://www.dw.com/ru/armenia-postroit-aes-po-zapadnym-tehnologiam/a-69648097article/a about Armenia’s plans to build a new nuclear power plant to replace the operating Metsamor NPP.br/pp

The story quotes Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan as saying that Armenia has started substantive negotiations with the US on the construction of a new nuclear power unit./pp

According to some experts. construction of a new power unit using Western technologies will not only provide the country with sustainable electricity generation source, but will also reduce dependence on Russia in the energy sector, depriving Moscow of an important lever of influence on Yerevan./pp

Armenia has not yet decided on the model of the new power unit. Negotiations are underway also with several countries - potential suppliers of technology./pp ‘Interest in the construction of a new nuclear power plant in Armenia has been shown by such countries as the United States, Russia, South Korea and China,’ Hakob Vardanyan, Armenia's deputy minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, who oversees the energy sector, told DW./pp ‘Armenia is discussing an option of a new power unit should with a capacity not higher than 600-700 MW,’ Vardanyan said. The government, he said, is inclined to build small modular reactors, but the main obstacle to this is that there are currently no operating nuclear power plants of this type in the world yet./pp ‘Many, including US companies, have everything at the development stage. Only the American company NuScale has moved forward. It has obtained licences to build 50MW power units. But NuScale postponed their construction, decided to build 77 MW power units and is at the final stage of their licensing,’ Vardanyan said and added that the construction of such power units is much more expensive than the previous model./pp

South Korea has also expressed interest in providing Armenia with 170 MW modular power units, which are similar in design to the American ones, Vardanyan said./pp ‘The high capacity of the unit, of course, reduces the cost of production, but the problem is that this development has not yet been licensed either,’ he said. Vardanyan added that Russian and Chinese developments are also in the process of licensing./pp

Due to the lack of experience in operating such units, the Armenian government is in no hurry to make a final decision./pp

Many in Armenia see the construction of a new nuclear power unit using Western technology as a step to reduce dependence on Russia. But Armenia's national energy expert at the UN, Ara Marjanyan, is convinced that politicisation of nuclear energy is inappropriate./pp ‘Professional assessments should prevail. Armenia has accumulated considerable experience of cooperation with Russia in the construction, operation, modernisation of nuclear power plants and countering natural disasters such as earthquakes. In addition, the industry is rather conservative and requires the use of NPP models that have demonstrated their efficiency over the years,’ Marjanyan told DW./pp

Earlier, Kirill Komarov, First Deputy Director General of Russian Rosatom, told ARKA News Agency, said that the corporation can offer Armenia nuclear reactors with a capacity of 50 to 1,000 MW./pp

About Armenian NPP/pp

The Armenian NPP, the only one in the South Caucasus region, is located near the town of Metsamor, about 30 kilometres west of Yerevan. The plant is one of the main sources of electricity in the country, providing up to 40 per cent of the total generation. Its service life has been extended until 2026, and work is underway to re-extend it for another 10 years.-0-/p