YEREVAN, April 12 (RIA Novosti) – Armenian President Robert Kocharyan admitted that a new modern technology nuclear power plant can be built in Armenia, while meeting with students of Yerevan State University.
“The only currently operating nuclear power plant in Armenia will be stopped with time. Talks with the EU on this problem are under way,” the president said.
Speaking on the prospects for the energy sector, the head of state noted that the development of alternative power is vital today.
In particular, the construction of a hydropower plant on the Arax river is a major project in the hydro energy sector. Besides, about 70 small hydro plants are being built, Kocharyan said.
Also, the president said that late 2005 will witness the start of the reconstruction of the Yerevan thermoelectric power station, which will make it possible to save fuel.
The construction of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline is expected to start this month, which Kocharyan believes “will become a guarantor of safety and stability of Armenia’s energy system.”
The Armenian nuclear power plant was put into operation in 1980 and stopped in March 1989. Then it was again activated in 1995, when an acute energy crisis occurred in the country.
Equipped with a VVER-440 Russian first-generation reactor, the plant’s second unit produces the average of 30-40% of the total Armenian energy. Experts estimate the plant is able to operate until 2016.
In September 2003 the nuclear power plant was handed over to the INTER RAO UES close corporation, an affiliate of RAO UES of Russia and the Rosenergoatom concern, for trust management for five years.
The European Union insists on conserving the plant and is ready to allocate 100 million euros for that purpose. However, according to Armenian experts’ estimates, at least a billion euros is necessary to develop alternative energy generating capacities in the country.
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