Armenian nuclear power plant taken offline for five months

The Armenian (Metsamor) nuclear power plant has been disconnected from the country’s power grid as part of its service life extension program. It was taken offline on April 1 for a period of five months.

The plant’s routine annual maintenance shutdown normally does not exceed 45 days, but in this case the period has been extended due to the scale of the planned works.

The Armenian nuclear power plant is one of the country’s primary sources of electricity. The station operates a single unit with a first-generation VVER-440 reactor, with fuel supplied by TVEL, a subsidiary of Rosatom.