Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that Armenia has made a strategic decision for its next nuclear reactor to be a small modular one, noting that discussions are underway with five countries on the issue.
“We had a multilateral discussion and made that decision. Our next nuclear reactor will be a small modular one,” Pashinyan said.
Addressing the question of which country Armenia will partner with, the Prime Minister stressed that the government is maintaining a trasparent approach. “We asked all our partners who have or may have such technology whether they would be offended if we discussed this topic with others as well. Everyone answered no,” he said.
Pashinyan added that when he visits Moscow,people think that Armenia has already chosen Russia. We have stated very transparently that at present we want to receive proposals. Today we are having such discussions with the US, Russia, China, South Korea, and France. Moreover, we do not put a political component into this. From a commercial and economic perspective, we should assess which proposal is most beneficial and make our choice accordingly,” he explained.
According to him, Armenia’s dialogue with the five partners is practical, and expert groups are already visiting or planning to visit different sites to study the details.
“We must make a decision and sign an agreement within the next one to two years. This decision will not have a geopolitical or foreign policy context. We want a small nuclear reactor with the best price, the safest technology, and the shortest possible payback period,” Pashinyan emphasized.
The operation of current Armenian Nuclear Power Plant is set to expire in 2026. The government, together with Russia’s Rosatom, is working to extend its operation for another ten years. Armenia plans to have a new nuclear reactor in operation by 2036.
