ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
August 25, 2004 Wednesday 8:34 AM Eastern Time
Fresh nuclear fuel delivered to Armenian plant
By Tigran Liloyan
METSAMOR /Armavir region in Armenia/, August 25 -Armenia’s Energy
Minister Armen Movsesyan said fresh nuclear fuel had been delivered
to the Armenian plant in advance for the first time, before the
beginning of repair works.
Movsesyan, who arrived at the plant to inspect the progress of
repairs, praised the Russian financial management which had made it
possible.
“Improvement of the nuclear plant’s safety remains our priority,” he
said, adding that the republic had spent on this purpose some 40
million dollars after de-mothballing the facility.
Safety measures are financed by international donor organizations,
the European Union and the U.S. energy ministry.
According to the minister, repair works are carried out according to
schedule. Half of all planned repairs have already been completed.
The nuclear plant will go on line on October 4, he said at a meeting
with the plant’s officials.
“We won’t talk about shutting down the plant until Armenia creates
alternative power generating capacities,” Movsesyan said.
The construction of a new nuclear power plant is under discussion.
The main problem is a lack of funding, as the project requires some
one billion dollars, he said.
The Armenian nuclear power plant, located 40 kilometers west of
Yerevan, was commissioned in 1979. It was shut down after a
devastating earthquake of 1989.
In 1996, Russian specialists helped Armenia de-mothball the plant and
launch its second reactor. The facility accounts for some 40 percent
of all electricity generated in Armenia.
However, the European Union is anxious to see the plant closed. Last
year, the financial management of the plant was handed over to a
daughter company of Russia’s RAO Unified Energy Systems.
