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Armenian nuclear power plant closure to cost EU a lot

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  • Armenian nuclear power plant closure to cost EU a lot

    RIA Novosti, Russia
    Nov 17 2004

    ARMENIAN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT CLOSURE TO COST EU A LOT


    YEREVAN, November 17 (RIA Novosti) - The European Union intends to
    fund the search for alternative sources of power in Armenia since it
    is going to close the only Armenian nuke facility. The money is
    supposed to be included into the budget of the EU new programme of
    cooperation with CIS commonwealth.

    On Wednesday Levon Vardanyan, in charge of the main board for
    technical development and external relations at the Armenian Energy
    Ministry, said that the project will be carried out irrespective of
    the EU other programmes regarding the Armenian nuclear power
    facility.

    "We are well aware that the Armenian facility will eventually be put
    out of service. The problem is under what conditions this whether
    there is an alternative might be", Vardanyan siad.

    The European Union insists on mothballing the Armenian nuke and is
    ready to allocate 100 million euros. Armenian experts say that the
    creation of alternative generating capacities will cost almost a
    billion euros.

    The Armenian nuclear power plant was put into operation in 1980 and
    shut down in March 1989. The energy crisis in Armenia restarted it in
    November 1995.

    Having the Russian VVER-440 power reactor of the first generation,
    the Armenian facility's second unit accounts for an average of 30 to
    40 percent of the national electricity output. Experts say the plant
    can remain in use until 2016.

    In September 2003 the Armenian nuclear power plant was passed in
    trust management for five years to INTER RAO UES, a subsidiary of the
    RAO Russia's Unified Energy Systems and the Rosenergoatom concern.
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