Armenian nuclear plant ups generation 5% in Jan-Sept
MOSCOW. Oct 11 (Interfax) - Armenia's nuclear power plant generated 2.081 billion kWt hours of electric power in Q1-Q3, a 5.1% year-on-year increase, the plant's General Director Gagik Markosyan told Interfax.
Output of electricity into the country's power system increased 5.1% to 1.909 billion kWt hours, Markosyan said.
On October 16, the plant will be shut down for 55 days for scheduled maintenance and fuel replacement, he said.
Armenia's nuclear power plant has until September 2013 been put under the financial management of Inter RAO UES . It is equipped with two VVER-440 generating systems of Russian make with combined capacity of 81 mWt. The first was commission in 1976 and the second in 1980. At the beginning of 1989, the plant was mothballed for political reasons, but the second reactor (404 mWt, the only functioning one) was fired up again in 1995. The plant contributes about 40% of all the electricity generated in Armenia.
Russia and Armenia signed an agreement this summer to build a new generating block at the plant. Construction is slated to begin in 2012, and the price tag is about $5 billion.