ArmInfo.On October 17, 2021 following outage-2021 the ANPP Unit 2 was started and connected to the RA unified power grid, the press service of the ANPP reports. According to the source, employees of almost all the subdivisions of the Armenian NPP, as well as about 600 specialists from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovakia and other countries participated in the activities.
"One of the most essential processes of Outage-2021 was the annealing of Unit 2 reactor vessel metal. It was successfully implemented at the ANPP and will contribute to Unit 2 design life extension and safety improvement.
During the long-lasting shutdown of the unit, activities on modernization of the major safety systems, namely, Emergency Core Cooling System, Spray System, Reliable Power Supply System, In-Core Process Monitoring System and Computer Information Systems have been implemented as well.
With participation of the specialists of the "Rusatom Service" JSC and involved contractors, as well as the plant staff, exclusive and unprecedentedly large-scope activities in the ANPP history have been implemented, in particular, installation of about 730m pipelines and about 270 items of valves, making 420 new joint welds, as well as non-destructive testing of about 4700 weld seams, laying and installation of about 42km long cables. In parallel with the activities of the final stage of the ANPP Unit 2 design life extension, outage activities were being performed, specifically, general overhaul of about 520 items of equipment, as well as intermediate and routine maintenance of about 330 items of equipment, etc.
Outage-2021 was the longest for the Armenian NPP Unit 2. Its implementation was made possible thanks to maximum concentration of the ANPP personnel efforts, clear arrangement of the work, coordination of the simultaneous activities with multiple involved contractor specialists.
The Armenian nuclear power plant continues to operate, remaining focused on the activities aimed at ensuring reliable and safe operation,"ANPP reports.
To remind, according to the intergovernmental agreement, Russia provided Armenia with a state loan of $ 300 million for the modernization of the second power unit of the ANPP (of which $ 270 million is a loan, $ 30 million is a grant). As of the end of February 2020, the Armenian side has spent about $ 200 million from the amount of the state loan. In April 2019, the Armenian side applied to the Ministry of Finance of Russia with a proposal to prolong a credit, as well as postpone the start of loan repayment (from December 31, 2019 to December 31, 2021) amid the delay in work on the project.
Without agreeing, Armenia withdrew from the balance of the Russian loan in June 2020. Then Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures of Armenia, and as of today already Deputy Prime Minister Suren Papikyan noted that at this stage the authorities considered it more profitable for the country to find funds from other sources for these purposes. As regards the ANPP modernization program, Papikyan confirmed that the "Rosatom" state corporation remains the main partner of Armenia (its subsidiary "Rusatom-Service" company is the general contractor of the station modernization program).
