CONTRACT AWARDED FOR NEW REACTOR AT METSAMOR

Nuclear Engineering
132&storyCode=2053000
May 18 2009

WorleyParsons has won a contract from the Armenian government to
construct a new nuclear power station in place of the country’s
Soviet-era facility at Metsamor.

The government expects to complete construction of the new 1000MW
reactor by 2016, the year the country’s existing reactor, Armenia 2, is
due to shutdown. The new plant is expected to cost around $5 billion.

According to Vasak Taproshyan, a spokesperson for the Armenian state
procurement agency, WorleyParsons has won the international tender
because its bid contained a warranty policy on the plant.

Taproshyan did not reveal the amount of the firm’s bid, he reported
only that a relevant agreement would be signed to fix the final
price. The winning bidder will be responsible for drafting a conceptual
design of the new reactor and supervising its construction.

Armenia is heavily dependent on the single reactor, which currently
produces about 40% of the its electricity. But it is under
international pressure to shutdown the first-generation V-270 VVER
reactor due to safety concerns,

Turkey has written to the International Atomic Energy Agency demanding
that something is done to speed up the closure of Armenia 2 and
called for more international pressure. The Turkish nuclear agency
has also claimed that its monitoring stations have detected increased
radioactivity levels, which it believes are from the Metsamor site.

The USA and the European Union support the ambitious idea to replace
Armenia 2, in principle. In November 2007 the US government allocated
$2 million for the first feasibility studies on the project, which
were jointly conducted by Armenian and US atomic energy experts in
2009. But US diplomats made it clear that Washington would not finance
for the plant’s construction.