NEW ARMENIAN NUCLEAR PLANT TO BE TWICE AS POWERFUL AS METSAMOR

menian-nuclear-plant-to-be-twice-as-powerful-as-me tsamor/
18th, 2009

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)-Armenia will start building a new nuclear power
station in place of its Metsamor plant by the beginning of 2011,
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Armen Movsisian said on Monday.

With a projected capacity of 1,000-1,200 megawatts, the new nuclear
plant would be more than twice as powerful as Metsamor’s sole
operating reactor that generates more than 40 percent of Armenia’s
electricity. The Soviet-built reactor is due to be decommissioned
in 2017.

"According to preliminary estimates, the new atomic block will cost
approximately $5 billion," Movsisian told RFE/RL. "A more precise
figure will emerge after the completion of design works."

"In my opinion, the construction work will start at the end of next
year or at the beginning of 2011," he said.

The Armenian government last week declared an Australian engineering
company, Worley Parsons, the winner of an international tender for
the right to manage the ambitious project. The two sides are due to
hold negotiations and sign a relevant contract soon.

"The next step will be to design the future block, after which we
will enlist and select potential investors," said Movsisian. "That
will be followed by the design work and the construction process
itself." The company that will carry out the construction will be
chosen in a separate tender, he added.