Friday, December 15 2017 12:52

ArmInfo. As part of the  program to extend the life of the N2 power unit of the Armenian  Nuclear Power Plant in 2017, over 690 units of equipment were  inspected.

According to Artem Petrosyan, Head of the Department of Atomic Energy  of the Energy Ministry of the Ministry of Energy Infrastructures and  Natural Resources of the Republic of Armenia, 37 programs were  developed within the framework of the surveys and 127 conclusions on  the justification and technical condition of the main systems as well  as the residual resource of the block were issued.

Technical tasks on modernization of emergency core cooling systems,  reliable power supply of the unit, transformer of the unit, as well  as the so-called sprinkler system were approved.

In the specified time, the delivery of equipment subject to  modernization began. The first of two turbo- generators, cooling  pumps, part of the equipment for overhead cranes, and the other part  will be delivered to the nuclear power plant site by the end of this  year. According to Artem Petrosyan, replacement of the main equipment  will begin in 2018 during the planned preventive maintenance.

Earlier, in an interview with ArmInfo, Deputy General Director of  Armenian NPP CJSC Hera Sevikyan noted that in April 2018 the plant's  reactor will be stopped for two months. At the same time, turbines  alternately stop for six months. First, the first turbine will be  replaced, which, after modernization, will begin to work, and then  the second one will be stopped. "Thus, during the whole period of  work, except for two months, when the reactor is shut down, the unit  will produce electricity, perhaps even in the amount of 60%,  providing about 200-220 MW of electricity," the expert noted.

As for the power generation systems, as Hera Sevikyan noted, the  station has ambitious plans for this component. The whole cycle will  be almost completely replaced, starting with turbines, generators,  and ending with capacitors, transformers and cooling towers, which  will be modernized at the modern level. As a result, the efficiency  of nuclear power plants will be significantly increased. "Based on  the experience of other countries, we expect that the efficiency will  increase by 18-20%, the capacity of each turbine will increase to 226  MW, and this will be done without additional fuel consumption,".