ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
 Tuesday


Armenian Ministry of Energy: 2/3 of lifetime extension works on
Armenian NPP 2nd unit are close to completion.

Yerevan May 30

Alexander Avanesov. As of today, from USD 205 mln, allocated by
Russian Federation for the implementation of Armenian NPP lifetime
extension project, USD 136 mln is already utilized. This was stated on
May 29 at the session on loans and grants management board conducted
by Minister of energy infrastructures and natural resources of RA
Ashot Manoukyan..

According to the statement of the Ministry press office, the results
of the works implemented at NPP in QI of 2017 were represented to
attendants of the session. The importance of the implementation of all
arrangements in the terms set and within high quality. Based on the
results of the session the Minister issue appropriate instructions.
The Press office of Armenian Ministry of Energy states that 2/3 of
lifetime extension works on Armenian NPP 2nd unit are close to
completion.

Earlier, during his interview with ArmInfo correspondent, AEP N2
energy bloc term prolongation works head said, that a considerable
amount of work will be carried out during the preventive maintenance.
The main focus will be put on the safety of the nuclear power plant:
works related to the repair of equipment will be performed, as well as
work on instrumental inspection of equipment. The repair of the
equipment will be assisted by employees of the Kolskaya and
Novovoronezh nuclear power plants - they are the ?twinning? stations
of the Armenian NPP, scientific management will be carried out by JSC
TsNIITMASH, an industrial enterprise of the Rosatom. As for the
instrumental survey, the main task of this exercise is to calculate
and confirm the residual life of the equipment using non-destructive
testing methods. In simple words, it is necessary to check the
possibility of further operation of NPP equipment. As you know, there
is a lot of equipment on the NPPA, so the instrumental survey is
distributed for several years, without compromising the safety and
operation of the NPPA. Last year, we started this process; this year
the volume of the surveyed equipment increased by 50% compared to last
year (150 types of equipment) at the request of the supervisory
authority. We hope to finish the instrumental survey process next year
and in 2019. Transfer calculations and conclusions to the supervisory
authority - the State Committee for Nuclear Safety Regulation. We hope
to finish on time, but everything will depend on the results of the
survey and the decision of the Gosatomnadzor. On 30 Sept 2015, Tashir
Group headed by Russian businessman of Armenian origin Samvel
Karapetyan and Inter RAO signed an agreement of purchase and sale of
electric power assets of the Russian energy holding in Armenia - ENA
CJSC and Hrazdan TPP. The reason of the sale was the public discontent
about the ungrounded growth in electricity prices by approximately
16.7% (6.93 AMD per 1 kWh). The Public Services Regulatory
Commission's (PSRC) decision to raise the tariff sparked protests and
the Armenian authorities agreed to audit both the expediency of PSRC's
decision to raise the tariff and the activities of the Electric
Networks. In addition, the authorities and Tashir Group took a
decision to subsidize on a parity basis the raised tariff for the
households and SMEs until the audit is completed. Since August 1,
2015, the daytime tariff for households (from 7 am till 11 pm) has
been 48.78 AMD per 1kWh, while the nighttime tariff has been 38.78 AMD
per 1 kWh.