YEREVAN, May 12 (Noyan Tapan). An agreement on imports of nuclear fuel was settled between the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant (ANPP) and the Russian "TVEL" company. The agreement was the outcome of the negotiations held between the ANPP director Gagik Markosian and "TVEL" representatives in Moscow on May 6-7. The necessary amount of fuel (103 cassettes) will reach Armenia by the end of May, Mr. Markosian told Noyan Tapan. The ANPP was halted for maintenance/recharging works on April 4 and is expected to be restarted at the end of May. However, a minimum of 30 days is necessary between the import of the fuel and the restarting of the facility. The fuel supply agreement was signed independently from the ANPP financial management agreement that is expected to be signed between the RA Government and the RAO UES company. That agreement hasn't been signed yet.
As it is known the European Union insists on closing the Armenian
NPP in 2004, and the Armenian government intends to continue operating it further
perhaps until 2015. Chairman of the "Eco-TEAM" non-government organizations
Artashes Sargsian believes that alternative energy in the form of small power
plants, solar and wind energy cannot replace the Armenian NPP, which produces
nearly 40% of the country's energy. The only alternative, according to him,
remains strengthening the sector of thermal power plants, in which considerable
investments should be made. A highly negative position towards the Armenian
NPP was expressed by Chairman of the Union of the Green of Armenia Hakob Sanasarian,
who considers that the plant should be closed a long time ago. He also agreed
with the general opinion that closing the Armenian NPP is possible if socio-economic
security and replenishment of missing energy sources are guaranteed.