Samvel Sargsyan, Noyan Tapan
The work done by the Atomic Energy Security Council (AESC) under the RA president in the sphere of security of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant (ANPP) enables to keep Armenia's energy security at a properly high level, the Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan stated at the opening ceremony of the 10th sitting of AESC.
In his words, the proposals and advice of the Council are subjected to detailed analysis, and many of them were carried out later. In particular, at the Council's suggestion to raise the status of Stateatomcontrol - the regulatory body of Armenia's nuclear security, this body was reorganized into the State Committee for the Regulation of Nuclear Security adjunct to the Armenian government.
The Chairman of AESC, a leading expert in atomic energy Adolf Birkhofer (Germany) told reporters that the security level of Armenia's atomic energy is currently much higher than at the time when AESC started its activities. In his opinion, the security level of ANPP is fully comparable with that of the nuclear plants of this type in other countries. A. Birkhofer said that the currently operating 2nd power unit of ANPP should continue working for 7-8 years, while measures to increase its security should be taken for another 3-4 years.
The Director General of ANPP CJSC Gagik Markosian said that the results of the 2007-2008 measures to raise the security of ANPP will be discussed at the 10th sitting of AESC. These measures were implemented with allocations of a total of more than 10 million USD provided by the EU, the U.S, Great Britain and the Czech Republic.
He announced that during the consultation held at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) a week ago with the participation of local, Armenian and Russian experts, the directions of increasing ANPP's security were chosen, on which 240 million rubles (about 10 million USD) allocated by Russian government for this purpose this year will be spent. All the proposals of the Armenian side on implementation of a 3-year program including 12 projects were taken into account at the consultation, and the Armenian side is now waiting for the program's approval by IAEA.
The director general of ANPP CJSC informed those present that last week the company announced a tender for seismic studies of the building site of ANPP's new power unit. He said that he is in favor of operating the current power unit after the end of its planned operation period of 30 years - in 2016 if no new power unit is built by that time.
According to him, there has been a precedent of operating 4 power units with this type of reactor for 45 years in Russia, there have also been precedents in Europe and the U.S, and the respective experience may be used for raising the security of the operating power unit of ANPP.
The AESC is composed of Russian experts in atomic energy security (3), Armenian experts (2), French (2), U.S. (1), Czech (1) and Austrian (1).
PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA: ABOUT US $ 90 MILLION WERE DIRECTED FOR SAFETY ENHANCEMENT OF ARMENIAN NPP SINCE ITS RESTART
ArmInfo
About US $ 90 mln were directed for safety enhancement of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant [ANPP] since restart of its second power unit in early 1995, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said at today's 10th session of the Nuclear Power Security Council.
Armenian president expressed gratitude to all the countries which assisted in enhancement of safety of the Armenian NPP's operating unit since its recommissioning. 'Armenia is satisfied by the fact that ANNP's safety level meets all the international standards', S. Sargsyan said. According to him, the work of the nuclear power pecialists is an example of purposeful application of deep professional knowledge and of impersonal serving to their professional duty. 'The work you do in the area of safety and operation of the Armenian NPP assures maintenance of the country's security at a high level', S. Sargsyan said and recalled that the Council was set in 1996. Many eminent foreign specialists were attracted to its operation over this time.
'In general, the sphere of energy security and nuclear safety, in particular, has always been one of the priorities both for the country's president and the government', S. Sargsyan said. He added that some changes took place in the Council's staff over this period. In particular, deputy Director of the State Nuclear Energy Corporation Alexander Lapshin was included in its staff. The Nuclear Energy Security Council plays an important part in the area of Armenia's energy security.
The remarks, proposals and recommendations, developed by the Council, have always been a subject of thorough analysis. Many of them were implemented. In particular, the Nuclear Regulatory Authority was reorganized into a State Nuclear Safety Regulatory Committee under the Armenian government. A package of proposals on revision of the list of technical measures for enhancement of safety of ANPP's second unit based on the safety analysis report played an essential part.
'We highly appreciate the activity of IAEA on coordination of the different international technical assistance. In particular, it aims at implementation of the points of the list of technical measures on enhancement of safety of the Armenian NPP's second power unit', S. Sargsyan said. He recalled that the third working session on this topic was held jointly with IAEA and the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Armenia in September, 2008, in Yerevan.
December 03, 2008