September 2000 Highlight

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Armenia

Armenia NPP inspected for seismic safety

In early September, a team of U.S. specialists guided Armenia plant staff through an intermediate seismic walk-down of Unit 2. Although few serious deficiencies were found during the walk-down, many systems will require further analysis to fully assess their seismic reliability according to the U.S. team member from Argonne National Laboratory. The September seismic walk-down cannot be considered a final inspection for the plant, since a final safe-shutdown equipment list will not be available until spring 2001. It is likely, however, that the September walk-down covered the majority of components that would be included in a final safe-shutdown equipment list.

The U.S. team recommended that the necessary testing, analysis, and design of upgrades should begin as soon as possible so that corrective actions can be taken during the next plant outage in spring 2001. The U.S. team reported its observations to an International Atomic Energy Agency review team and to the Armenia Nuclear Regulatory Authority. (Dennis Meyers, DOE, 301-903-1418; Mark Petri, ANL, 630-252-3719)