Armenia :	|	Operating History	|	Technical Activities	|	Accomplishments	|

Armenia Operating History

The automatic fire alarm in the cable tunnels worked, but the fixed foam extinguishing system failed to discharge. The fire led to a total station blackout. The power supply from diesel generators was lost because of fires in the cable tunnels, and the external grid connections were also lost. Control of the plant was endangered because of smoke in the main control room and the total lack of emergency control provisions.

After the fire, a separate shutdown train was installed in the boron pump room. In addition, cables were given a fire- resistant coating, cable penetrations were tightened and fire fighting arrangements were improved.

In 1988, Unit 1 was annealed.

Unit 1 was shut down in February 1989 and Unit 2, in March 1989--following the devastating earthquake of December 1988--because of public concern about the plant's safety. The plant itself was undamaged by the earthquake. Unit 2 was restarted in October 1995 and connected to the grid in November; Unit 1 remains closed.

In December 1994, the Armenian Council of Ministers Presidium--the cabinet--held an extraordinary session at the plant. It decided to lift customs duties on imported equipment needed for the plant, and to create a state commission to handle the start-up of Unit 2.

Armenian authorities planned to complete some safety upgrades before Unit 2 was restarted, but many improvements--such as the replacement of many valves and control rod drives and the modernization of instrumentation and control systems--will occur over the next three to four years. For details, see the separate summary of the Medzamor plant.

According to Armenian radio, the country's unstable power network prevented Unit 2 from reaching its desired capacity in December 1995. The unit was operating at 310 megawatts, not the target 376 megawatts.

International Assistance

Armenia became a member of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) in August 1994. Under the auspices of WANO, personnel from the Medzamor plant will participate in international exchanges.

U.S. AID jointly sponsors a utility partnership program with the U.S. Energy Association (an association of public and private energy-related organizations that represents the United States on the World Energy Council). Staff from the Armenian utility, Armenergo, have spent several weeks at various U.S. utilities to learn about the market economy from management's point of view. The utilities visited include Southern California Edison and the utility departments of the cities of Glendale, Pasadena and Anaheim in California.

In July 1995, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) asked a group of experts to assess the main safety-related issues at Unit 2. The group, which included nuclear experts from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia and the EBRD, concluded that, if WANO and Russia continued to support the plant technically and Armenia's nuclear regulatory body received support from within Armenia and from foreign advisers, Armenia should be eligible for the same nuclear safety assistance as other countries with VVER- 440 Model V230s. The group suggested that rather than isolate Armenia, the international community should sponsor its participation in safety-related training and help the nuclear regulatory body maintain contact with its counterparts in other countries.

Croatia's Inetec has a contract, running from 1994 to 1999, to carry out steam generator tube eddy current testing and tube plugging of Unit 2. The scope of the project depends on the tube inspection results.

Armenia representatives are being sent to the VVER-440/230 Working Group meetings for development of Emergency Operating Instructions.

Source: Source Book: Soviet-Designed Nuclear Power Plants in Russia, Ukrane, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Hungary, and Bulgaria, 4th edition. Nuclear Energy Institute. 1996. (online)

Armenia :	|	Operating History	|	Technical Activities	|	Accomplishments	|