Russia has not decided against involvement in the construction of a new reactor at the Armenian nuclear power station, an official has said
The project to build the new generating unit is one of Russia's priorities in international cooperation, the deputy director general of nuclear agency Rosatom, Nicolay Spasskiy, told journalists in Yerevan on Wednesday.
Spasskiy said that an intergovernmental agreement had been signed on the project during Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev’s state visit to Armenia last year.
"From the official point of view this project has the highest status as it is carried out at the level of an intergovernmental agreement," Spasskiy said.
"I repeat that we are not just ready to help Armenia build a new reactor, we want to participate in it. We are ready to participate in the financing of the project and are willing to participate further in the future operation of the new reactor," he continued.
He rejected rumours that Russia may decline to participate in the project. Moreover, Rusatom is ready to invest in the construction of the generator and participate in its future operation.
“Everything is following the normal course. A year has passed since the agreement was signed and there has been significant progress, including on the financial issue,” the Russian official said.
Spasskiy said that the specific parameters of the project remained at the discretion of the Armenian side.
In turn, Armenia's deputy minister of energy and natural resources, Areg Galstyan, said work was being carried out in accordance with Armenian law and international conventions and on schedule.
The Armenian Metsamor nuclear power plant is located some 30 kilometers west of Yerevan. It was built in the 1970s but was closed following a devastating earthquake in 1988. One of its two VVER 440-V230 light-water reactors was reactivated in 1995. Metsamor currently generates some 40 percent of Armenia's electricity.
Armenian authorities said they would build a new nuclear power plant to replace the aging facility. The new plant is supposed to operate at twice the capacity of the Soviet-constructed facility. But the government has yet to attract funding for the project that was estimated by a US-funded feasibility study to cost as much as $5 billion.
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