CONSULTING

of the MNPP [Medzamor Nuclear Power Plant] remain a key objective for the EU and under the
ENP Action Plan. Since the power plant cannot be upgraded to meet current internationally
recognized nuclear safety standards, it should be closed as soon as possible”. 906 Armenia is
currently carrying out a post-Fukushima stress test in cooperation with the European nuclear
regulators group ENSREG. 907
In December 2014, an intergovernmental agreement was signed for the Russian Government to
finance a program of upgrading to enable the reactor to operate until 2026. 908 However, in
June 2015, the IAEA said that, following an Integrated Regulatory Review Service, it was
concerned that no application for life extension had been received by the national regulatory
authority, despite the operating license’s expiring in 2016. 909
For years, Armenia has been negotiating with Russia for the construction of a new 1000 MW unit,
and signed an intergovernmental agreement in August 2010. The plant was estimated by a U.S.-
funded feasibility study to cost US$5 billion. 910 In March 2014, the energy minister admitted that
it was having difficulty in attracting funds to start construction. 911 In July 2014, the energy
minister said that Russia was expected to provide plant equipment worth US$4.5 billion out of the
total US$5 billion. 912 In September 2015, Deputy Energy Minister Areg Galstyan, was quoted as
saying that Armenia was now considering the construction of two 600 MW units, rather than one
1,000 MW unit. The commissioning target would move from 2027 to 2036. 913 It is unclear what
triggered the shift, what the technology would be or where the financing would come from.
In Russia, nuclear plants provided 183 TWh of electricity, a record, an 8 percent year-on-year
increase, primarily due to the commissioning of the Rostov-3 reactor. Nuclear energy contributed
18.6 percent to the country’s electricity mix, an identical level to the previous year’s historic
maximum. A key construction question for 2016, will be if the Novovoronezh-2 unit—at least
already six years behind schedule—will be finally connected to the grid.
According to the IAEA-PRIS database, Russia has eight reactors under construction, second only
to China. Two of these are “floating reactors” (Akademik Lomonosov-1 and -2), which are
nominally 32 MWe each. These were ordered in February 2009 and were expected to be delivered
906 High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, “Joint Staff Working
Document—Implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in Armenia—Progress in 2014 and
recommendations for Actions”, European Commission, 25 March 2015, see
http://eeas.europa.eu/enp/pdf/2015/armenia-enp-report-2015_en.pdf, accessed 2 July 2016.
907 ENSREG, “Armenia national stress test report open for public consultation”, European Nuclear Safety
Regulation Group, 6 April 2016.
908 Diario Armenia, “Armenia and Russia signed an agreement to extend the life of Metsamor nuclear
power plant”, 27 December 2014, see http://www.diarioarmenia.org.ar/armenia-y-rusia-firman-un-acuerdopara-extender-la-vida-util-de-la-central-atomica-de-medzamor/,
accessed 25 March 2015.
909 NucNet, “IAEA Expresses Concern Over Lack of Progress on Armenian-2 Licence Extension”,
12 June 2015, see http://www.nucnet.org/all-the-news/2015/06/12/iaea-expresses-concern-over-lack-ofprogress-on-armenian-2-licence-extension,
accessed 2 July 2016.
910 NTI, “Armenia File”, Updated March 2016, see http://www.nti.org/learn/countries/armenia/, accessed
29 May 2016.
911 Business New Europe, “Armenia denies plans to abandon nuclear power plant project”, 28 March 2014.
912 Rosatom, “Russia and Armenia agree to unit 2 life extension”, Press Release, 24 December 2014.
913 NIW, “Armenia”, 25 September 2015.
Mycle Schneider, Antony Froggatt et al. 208 World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2016