UKRAINIAN TURBOATOM READY TO INVEST $200 IN MODERNIZATION OF ARMENIAN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
ARKA
Oct 16, 2009
YEREVAN, October 16. /ARKA/. Turboatom, well-known Ukrainian turbine
maker, is ready to invest $200 million in modernization of Armenian
Nuclear Power Plant, Viktor Subbotin, director general of the holding,
said at a press conference on Thursday.
"We are ready to modernize Armenian Nuclear Power Plant’s turbines with
a 20-to-20-year under warranty. After the modernization, the nuclear
plant’s capacity will grow 10% to 1 million kilowatt/hour", he said.
In his opinion, it would be better to modernize the functioning power
plant instead of building a new one.
The modernization will take less time and money than construction,
and as a result, Armenia will get a nuclear plant not worse than
other new-built plants.
Subbotin said that modernization of 20- or 30-year nuclear plants is
common worldwide.
Developed countries, such as the United States and Russia, use
similar programs.
"Once nuclear power plants were exploited strictly until the end of
permitted exploitation term – 20 years, while now, under IAEA rules,
they are modernized for other 20 years," Subbotin said.
In his words, Turboatom will offer its turbines to Armenia, if the
Armenian government decides to build a new unit and even a new plant.
Established in the second half of the 20th century, Ukrainian Turboatom
took an active part in development of Armenia’s energy sector.
Turboatom has produced two steam turbines for Yerevan Thermal Plant and
four turbines with aggregate capacity of 1,045 megawatt for Armenian
Nuclear Power Plant over the period between 1964 and 1966.
The company can provide industrial turbines with 0.7- to 12-megawatt
back pressure and300-megawatt steam turbines.
The company can also modernize the functioning units by upgrading
technical characteristics of turbines and sending spares here.
Armenian Nuclear Power Plant sits near Metsamor (20 or 30 kilometers
south of Yerevan).
The plant started functioning in 1976, and now only the second,
407.5-megawatt unit operates.
INTER RAO UES belonging to Russian state-owned Rosatom runs the
plant’s funds from 2003 and will run them until 2013.
Specialists say the plant can operate until 2016.Armenia is planning
to build a new, 1000-megawatt unit. The energy ministry says the
project is estimated to cost $5 billion.To attract financial resources
from the outside, Armenian National Assembly repealed the sole state
ownership of new nuclear units in 2006.The construction is planned
to be launched in early 2011.