ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
July 19, 2004 Monday 5:18 AM Eastern Time

Armenian N-power plant can operate at least for 12 more years

By Tigran Liloyan

YEREVAN

The Armenian nuclear power station can operate at least for another
12 years provided financing is sufficient, said on Monday in Yerevan
deputy managing director of the Inter RAO EES and director of the
International Power Corporation Mikhail Mantrov.

In compliance with the Russian-Armenian intergovernmental agreement,
this subsidiary company of the Unified Energy Systems of Russia
corporation was granted the administration of the financial and
economic operations of the station.

According to Mantrov, there has not been a single emergency over the
eight years after the re-start of the nuclear station, which points
to a high level of the station’s reliability. “The Armenian nuclear
power station is now in a working condition in compliance with
requirements of the IAEA,” he emphasized.

A new batch of nuclear fuel will be soon delivered to the station.
The Russian side will bring fuel without a rise in the price, despite
higher prices for uranium on world markets by more than 40 percent,
Mantrov stressed.

Put into operation in 1979, the Armenian station was shut down in
1989 after the devastating earthquake. It was re-started in 1996 with
the participation of Russian specialists. The station generates some
40 percent of all electricity, produced in Armenia by power plants.

In the meantime, the European Union strives for closing down the
station. The Armenian authorities state that its shutdown is possible
only if there are alternative sources of electricity. On July 31, the
station will be stopped for routine repairs and loading with fuel,
said station managing director Gagik Markosyan. It will be re-started
again on October 4.