ArmInfo. Armenia should think about possible construction of a reference power unit of Generation III+, according to Felix Hakobjanyan, the top gun of Armenian power engineering, who headed Armenergo for 14 years.
When commenting on the commissioning of the innovative nuclear power unit at Novovoronezh NPP, the expert stresses that the innovations applied at the new Russian power unit actually meet the safety requirements for Armenia. It is protected against earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, aircraft crash, etc. This makes the project quite attractive for Armenia, especially given the project of construction of the Iran- Armenia-Georgia-Russia high-voltage power transmission line. "Certainly, the price of such a power unit is high for Armenia, but it will pay off, given that the lifespan of the unit is 60 years versus the 30-year lifespan of Armenian NPP. The electricity price will be lower than at thermal units," the specialist stresses. "I think we should either change the reactor vessel at the Armenian NPP or build a reference unit of Generation III+," Hakobjanyan says.
To recall, on 5 August 2016, the innovative power unit of Generation III+ at Novovoronezh NPP was connected to the national grid and produced the first 240 MW of electricity. "This event is our great victory, which crowns a huge amount of work in installation and adjustment of equipment, and complex process operations. It can be stated that all works were done reliably and safely. The operating personnel clearly understands the process, equipment operates safety and reliably," Andrey Petrov, General Director of Rosenergoatom, said. In turn, President of NIAEP Valery Limarenko pointed out: "ROSATOM is the world's largest supplier of nuclear power plants in the global market. Today, we have made our positions stronger. This opens new opportunities for building up our presence in the global market."
The innovative power units of Generation III+ possess improved performance parameters. They are absolutely safe in operation and fully meet the IAEA's post-Fukushima requirements. Their feature is a large number of passive safety systems, which are able to function even in case of the plant blackout and without operator's intervention. So Unit 6 of Novovoronezh NPP uses passive heat removal system from the reactor, hydrogen recombiners and core catcher, which are unique and have no similarities worldwide.