Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Hakob Vartanian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that a joint task force formed by the Armenian and Russian governments will explore ways of implementing the ambitious project.
“The working group has already held the first meeting,” he said. “Right now we are working on a feasibility study, and yes, we are going to build a new [nuclear] energy block.”
Roughly 40 percent of Armenia’s electricity is currently generated by the nuclear power station at Metsamor. Its sole functioning reactor went into service in 1980 and was due to be decommissioned by 2017. Armenia’s former government decided to extend the life of the 420-megawatt reactor after failing to attract billions of dollars in funding for the construction of a new and safer nuclear facility.
In 2015, the Russian government provided Yerevan with a $270 million loan and a $30 million grant for major safety upgrades at Metsamor. Russian and Armenian specialists essentially completed the modernization last year. Armenian officials say the Soviet-built plant located 35 kilometers west of Yerevan is safe enough to operate until 2036.
Vartanian indicated that the new plant would be built in time for the planned decommissioning of the Metsamor reactor. He said the cost of the project depends on the plant’s design capacity which is due to be recommended by the Russian-Armenian task force.
The Russian side, the official went on, has already floated the idea of building multiple and smaller reactors in Armenia.
“But I’m not sure that we will opt for building small modular energy blocks,” he said, arguing that small reactors are not necessarily more cost-effective than large ones.