The Best Specialists in the Nuclear Sector Begin the Upgrade of the Armenian NPP Reactor: Rosatom

The Armenian Nuclear Power Plant has commenced the planned precautionary refurbishment phase (PNV-2021), with the recovery annealing work on the reactor core beginning. This was reported by the company 'Rosatom'.

The annealing process will allow for a return of 80-85% of the reactor's metal operation characteristics to their initial state. The implementation of this procedure will enable the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant to operate until 2036.

The preparation for the annealing work lasted nearly a year and a half. Now, the equipment designated for the annealing has been installed in the core casing, the final inspections have been completed, and heating has commenced. The reactor core is heated to 4750 degrees and maintained at that temperature for 150 hours, after which a slow cooling process occurs.

The heat treatment of the reactor core's metal will take place over the course of a week. The organization of work within the framework of the modernization contract is carried out by 'Rusatom Service' LLC, which is part of the electrical division of the 'Rosatom' state corporation. Currently, specialists from Russian companies and organizations are overseeing the annealing plant's management, monitoring all technological parameters, and managing the annealing mode of the reactor core. Among these are AO OKB 'GIDROPRESS', AO 'NPO 'TsNIITMASH', AO 'Atomenergoremont', NIC 'Kurchatovsky Institute', and TsNIIKM 'Prometey'.

In turn, the specialists from AO 'NPO 'TsNIITMASH' have developed the annealing technology for the reactor core, which is currently being implemented at all plants where operation extension is taking place.

This annealing technology was first applied in 1987 at the third power block of the Novovoronezh NPP. Recovery annealings have already been carried out in VVER-440 reactors at nuclear power plants such as the Kola NPP (Russia), Rivne NPP (Ukraine), Kozloduy NPP (Bulgaria), and Loviisa NPP (Finland).