A Session of the Joint Coordination Committee on the Project for the Armenian NPP Modernization and Life Extension Took Place in Yerevan

13.03.2019

A Session of the Joint Coordination Committee on the Project for the Armenian NPP Modernization and Life Extension Took Place in Yerevan

12 March the eighth session of the Joint Coordination Committee on the Project for the Armenian NPP Unit 2 modernization and life extension took place in Yerevan. The meeting was attended by representatives of the RA Ministry of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources, the RA State Committee for Nuclear Safety Regulation, the “Haykakan Atomayin Electrakayan” CJSC (ANPP), the “Armatom” SRI CJSC, the “Rosatom” State Corporation including the following subsidiaries: the “Rusatom Service” JSC, the “Rosenergoatom Concern” JSC, the “Tekhsnabexport” JSC.

The Russian delegation was headed by Kirill Komarov, the First Deputy General Director, Director of the Unit for Development and International Business of the “Rosatom” State Corporation and the Armenian delegation was headed by Garegin Baghramyan, the First Deputy Minister of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources of the Republic of Armenia.

The participants of the session discussed the action plan for 2019 and the program of activities till 2021, the Armenian NPP Unit 2 operating conditions following the outage, as well as the extension of the Intergovernmental Agreement on Cooperation between Russia and Armenia under this project. The parties also discussed the question related to preparation of a pilot project on transportation and reprocessing of a batch of SNF (spent nuclear fuel).

The participants of the meeting discussed the Russian-Armenian bilateral cooperation in the humanitarian area and in staff training for nuclear energy industry. In December, 2018 an enrollment of Armenian candidates started for studies at leading technical universities of Russia, including the “MEPhI” National Research Nuclear University, for Bachelor’s Degree, Specialist Degree and Master’s Degree programs according to the Rosatom target quotas. For the academic year 2019/20 four quotas were allocated for Armenian students. In addition, this year the Finals of the Academic Competition in Physics and Mathematics took place which had been initiated by the Rosatom and the MEPhI. The victors and the prize-winners of the competition will receive benefits during the admission and will have a chance of free tuition in leading technical higher education institutions of the Russian Federation.

For popularization of the education in the nuclear energy area, educational activities are regularly conducted based on the National Polytechnic University of Armenia with participation of Russian specialists, and the Armenian representatives are involved in international cultural and humanitarian projects that are being implemented under the support of the “Rosatom” State Corporation.

In general, according to the meeting results the parties agreed to enhance interaction in formation of the public acceptance and popularization of nuclear energy in the Republic of Armenia.

It is to be recalled that the Armenian NPP, which is the only nuclear power plant in the region, is located near Metsamor. More than one third of the electricity produced in Armenia is generated by the NPP. The activities of the project on the ANPP modernization and life extension will be completed by the end of 2021 and Armenia will have a plant fitted with modern equipment and its safety will be approximated to the international standards.

Source http://www.rosatom.ru