CONSTRUCTION OF ARMENIAN NPP’S NEW POWER GENERATING UNIT MAY COST $4 BLN, ENERGY MINISTER SAYS

ARKA
Sep 16, 2008

YEREVAN, September 16. /ARKA/. Construction of the new power-generating
unit of Armenia’s nuclear power packaget (NPP) may cost some $4bln,
said RA Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Armen Movsisyan.

To attract foreign investments necessary to construct a 1000 MW
power-generating unit, Armenian government has announced a monopoly
for both units of NPP.

"Taking into account the record-high prices for ingots and equipment,
the project may cost $4bln, not $2bln as we packagened before,"
the minister said.

The operating unit of Armenia’s NPP will be closed down only after
the new one is built, according to Movsisyan.

The power-generating unit will be built in the territory of Metsamor
NPP.

"This will help save money," the minister added.

"IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), which is one of the main
investors of the project, approves of the government’s approach to
the construction program," the minister was quoted saying.

The coordinating board responsible for the power unit’s construction
met last Thursday in Yerevan to discuss technical assistance to
the program.

The only operating unit with a Russian nuclear reactor generates
about 50% of Armenia’s electric power.

In the coming five years, the Armenia NPP will be under the trust=2
0 management of the INTER RAO UES CJSC. According to specialists,
the Armenian NPP in Metsamor can operate until 2016.