Armenian nuclear power plant to stop for refuelling in October

Arminfo
24 Mar 07

Yerevan, 23 March: The Armenian nuclear power plant will be stopped
for annual maintenance and refuelling for 45 days on 1 October 2007,
the plant’s director, Gagik Markosyan, has said.

He said that a number of measures to increase the safety of the plant
would be carried out during the maintenance period. IAEA
[International Atomic Energy Agency] specialists monitor the plant’s
radiation safety every quarter, Markosyan said. He said that the term
of the plant’s financial management by the [Russian] Inter RAO UES
would end in September 2008. "I don’t think the plant will have
financial problems if the Russians refuse the further financial
management of the plant. The plant is capable of acquiring nuclear
fuel for refuelling," Markosyan said. The plan has been buying nuclear
fuel at its own expense for the past two years and has not received
loans for this purpose, he added.

Every year, the Armenian nuclear power plant processes 90-100 fuel
cassettes and buys the same amount.

[Passage omitted: The financial management of the Armenian nuclear
plant was handed to the Inter RAO UES, an affiliate of the Unified
Energy Systems of Russia, in September 2003]