Rosatom offers Armenia to build new nuclear power plant with participation of other countries

Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev said that the state corporation offered Armenia to build a new nuclear power plant in the format of an international consortium. In the coming months, the Armenian government will select partners for the construction and decide on the technical appearance of the station.

Rosatom has already submitted to the Armenian side an official proposal for the construction of the VVER-1000 block (with a capacity of 1000 MW). The Russian side is ready to implement this project in the format of an integrated international consortium, attracting manufacturers from other countries (for example, France, Korea and China) to the construction, if this is the desire of Yerevan, said Alexey Likhachev at Yerevan airport after talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

By 2036, according to Mr. Likhachev, to cover the electricity shortage, taking into account the annual growth in consumption, this is the capacity of the station. By that time, the operation of the Soviet-built Metsamor NPP operating in Armenia will expire. Its modernization is carried out by Rosatom.

Nikol Pashinyan discussed replacing the Armenian nuclear power plant with modular reactors with colleagues from the United States, but the parties did not reach specific agreements. The Prime Minister also spoke about plans to build a new station, which was discussed with Russia, the United States, France, South Korea, China.

Lucine Balasian