Rosatom Service JSC (part of the Electric Power Division of Rosatom) has installed test samples in the reactor vessel of unit 2 of the Armenian NPP during the latest scheduled maintenance outage. The resulting data will be used to support the possible extension of the unit’s operational life for another 10 years, until 2036.
Tracking changes in the characteristics of the metal (strength, brittleness, etc.) is being done using special samples made of metal identical to the reactor vessel. The samples are installed in the reactor vessel in special containers. During the operation of the nuclear power plant, these samples will be removed for laboratory analysis. Unloading of the samples will begin in 2025 and will be carried out annually.
The currently operating Armenian NPP (ANPP) at Metsamor 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. In March 2014, the Armenian government decided to extend the plant’s service life to 2026.
In November 2021, it was announced that the service life of Metsamor 2 had been extended to 2026 after collaboration with Rosatom which saw the unit’s emergency cooling system, engine room, turbines and steam generators modernised, and annealing of the reactor pressure vessel. This restored the properties of the metal by 85% enabling further operation until 2026.
The modernisation was mostly implemented under a loan agreement signed between Armenia and Russia in 2015. However, in 2020, the Armenian government has 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.
“Rosatom has started extending again the country’s only nuclear power plant,” said Evgeny Salkov, General Director of Rosatom Service JSC. We observe safety priorities meticulously. Starting in 2025, Rosatom specialists will extract samples from the reactor vessel of the Armenian NPP each year and check the properties of the metal and changes in its structure. This we ensure reliable control and detailed monitoring of one of the most important devices of a nuclear power plant.”
In December 2023, Rosatom Service JSC and the Armenian NPP signed an agreement within the framework of the regular inter-governmental commission on economic cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia. In 2023 and 2024, in preparation for the service life extension of the unit Rosatom Service JSC, OKB Gidropress JSC and other industry enterprises drew up research programmes, developed and manufactured test samples made of metals and alloys specially selected for the Armenian NPP.
In January 2022, Rosatom signed an agreement with ANPP management to look into the possible building of new Russia-designed units on the Metsamor site. Armenia has long been in discussions with Russia about replacing Metsamor and has also held talks with the USA on the issue.
Washington has been actively working to persuade Armenia to distance itself from Russia. In May 2022, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan signed a memorandum of understanding on “strategic nuclear cooperation”. A senior US State Department official said in 2023 that Washington is “assessing the feasibility” of building a nuclear plant equipped with small modular reactors (SMRs) in Armenia, noting that US technology could make Armenia less dependent on Russia for energy.
In July, Secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, Armen Grigoryan Armenia and the US were discussing the possibility of building a new NPP and the process had entered the subject phase, according to the. “We have entered a very substantive phase,” he told a conference in Yerevan. “We are discussing the legal framework without which we cannot advance. At the moment, I can say that the ball is in the US’s court.
Nevertheless, Armenia has a long-standing a close working relationship with Rosatom in the nuclear sphere. In October 2021, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said talks were underway with Russia to construct a new facility to replace ANPP. In June 2023, Pashinian set up a working group tasked with exploring various options for building the new facility, including the SMRs, and submit its findings to the prime minister’s staff. In January 2024, Pashinian said Armenia planned to build a new NPP within 8-10 years and that various options were being investigated, including technologies from Russia, the USA, and South Korea. A preliminary feasibility study for the construction of a new 1200 MWe unit from is under consideration.
