Armenia’s nuclear power plant was disconnected from the country’s energy system on Friday due to an accident in the system, said Sona Harutyunyan, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure.
Earlier, the Armenian Electric Networks company reported that at 20:54 Moscow time, due to the withdrawal of the Armenian NPP from the power grid, the automation of the Shaumyan-2 substation owned by the High Voltage Electric Networks company was switched off. As a result of the blackout, several administrative districts of Yerevan, Etchmiadzin and Armavir regions were isolated. The company clarified that the power supply to the administrative districts of Yerevan and Armavir was restored within about 15 minutes and to Etchmiadzin at 21:26 Moscow time.
“Following an accident in the electrical system, the nuclear power plant was disconnected from the system. The power supply to the system has been restored for the time being. The reasons for the incident are being investigated.” — Harutyunyan said on the social network.
Armenia operates one nuclear power plant with two power units based on earthquake-resistant reactors of the VVER-440 type, which were put into operation in 1976 and 1980. The NPP was shut down in March 1989 following the Spitak earthquake, but the second power unit was recommissioned in November 1995. With the assistance of Rosatom, its modernization was completed in 2021. The service life of the existing NPP has been extended until 2026. The Government of Armenia adopted a resolution to initiate the process of extending the operation of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant until 2036.
