28 Jan (NucNet): Armenia’s only nuclear reactor unit produced 2.123 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity in 2012, down 9.93 percent on 2011 largely because of a planned outage that lasted 73 days.
Armenia’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources said the 375-megawatt Armenia-2, a Russian VVER-440 unit, was shut down for “preventive maintenance” on 16 September 2012 and did not resume commercial operation until 27 November 2012.
The ministry said there had been two International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale Level 0 events at the reactor during 2012, but at no point had these incidents resulted in scrams. Level 0 incidents on the International Atomic Energy Agency scale are also known as “Below Scale’ incidents and do not have any nuclear safety significance.
The ministry told NucNet in an email that Armenia had carried out a stress test on Armenia-2 after the March 2011 accident at Fukushima-Daiichi in Japan and that a final report would be submitted to the Armenian Nuclear Regulatory Authority in July 2013 and then to the European Union.
At the end of March 2011, the European Council asked that stress tests be carried out on all EU nuclear plants. The council also asked neighbouring countries to carry out similar tests, although there was no obligation for them to do so.
The ministry also confirmed to NucNet that by the end of September 2013 it will submit to the government a programme and budget for extending the operational lifetime of Armenia-2, which began commercial operation in May 1980.
The ministry said Armenia is planning to build a new nuclear plant, saying one unit was “planned and firmly committed”.
In August 2010, Armenia and Russia signed an agreement to cooperate in the construction of at least one new Russian-built VVER-1000 reactor unit in Armenia.
The agreement also allowed Russia and Armenia to cooperate in the training of power plant personnel. Russia said it would provide technical support and fuel for the operation of any units.
Armenia-1 and Armenia-2 were shut down after an earthquake in 1988. The reactors continued operating normally throughout the quake with no damage, but both units were shut down in 1989 because of concerns regarding seismic vulnerability.
Armenia-2 resumed commercial operation in 1995, but Armenia-1, also a VVER-440, has remained out of operation and is being decommissioned.
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