Pashinyan announced Armenia’s possible need for a larger nuclear power plant

Brief retelling from RIA II

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the country may need a larger nuclear power plant.

Pashinyan emphasized that technologies for the construction of a modular nuclear power plant are being developed in Russia, France, South Korea, and the United States has made “greater progress” in this.

Armenia has one nuclear power plant with two power units, the modernization of the second power unit was completed with the help of Rosatom in 2021, and the Armenian government adopted a resolution to extend the operation of the Armenian NPP until 2036.

YEREVAN, August 24 – RIA Novosti. Armenia may need a larger nuclear power plant, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said, adding that a nuclear power plant is also a way to make the country energy dependent.

In September 2024, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan reported that Yerevan had made a strategic decision to build a modular nuclear power plant, adding that such technologies were being developed in Russia, France, and South Korea. At the same time, he especially emphasized that the United States has made “greater progress” in this regard.

“Let us finally understand that a nuclear power plant is also a way to make us energy dependent... Yes, I think it may turn out that we need a larger nuclear power station. But it may turn out that we have so much energy that we don’t need anything else, we only need solar energy,” Pashinyan said, presenting the government program in parliament.

According to him, solar technologies are developing so much that they can eliminate the country’s external energy dependence.

“In the end, let’s not forget that uranium is also an exhaustible resource, uranium prices are similar to oil prices. Uranium reserves will rise in price,” Pashinyan said.

There is one nuclear power plant in Armenia with two power units based on earthquake-resistant reactors of the VVER-440 type, commissioned in 1976 and 1980. The nuclear power plant was shut down in March 1989 after the Spitak earthquake, but the second power unit was re-commissioned in November 1995. With the help of Rosatom, its modernization was completed in 2021. The Government of Armenia adopted a resolution to begin the process of extending the operation of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant until 2036.