YEREVAN, DECEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. The conclusion of the European Commission experts and their assessments on the documents substantiating the extension of the term of operation of the 2nd power unit of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant confirm that Armenia is on the right track in terms of nuclear energy operation and nuclear safety, ARMENPRESS reports Vahe Grigoryan, Deputy Chairman of the Armenian State Committee for Nuclear Safety Regulation, a body regulating the use of nuclear energy in Armenia, told reporters, presenting the results of ARRA08 program for documenting the long-term operation safety of the 2nd power unit of Metsamor NPP.

Grigoryan said that according to the assessments of European experts, the permit to extend the term of operation of the power unit is justified.

“Their conclusions assure that we are on the right track, assure that security is a priority for us and we have paid attention to security, our decisions are in line with the decisions of European experts, and the permit given by us is justified.

The work done at this stage, especially the heat treatment of the reactor body and after that the safety assessment showed that the reactor body has sufficient resources to work until 2039. If the resource of other components is also substantiated, we can think about exploitation after 2026. And the station is already taking steps to justify its operation after 2026”, Vahe Grigoryan said.