OREANDA-NEWS.  On 7 October, 2015 the Government of the Republic of Armenia and Government of the Russian Federation signed the Intergovernmental Agreement on exchange of information related to nuclear and radiation safety.

The document was signed by S. Kirienko, Director General of Rosatom, from the Russian side and E. Zakharyan, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, from the Armenian side.

The Agreement was concluded for the purposes of implementation of the IAEA recommendations. The Agreement determines the conditions of mutual early notification in carrying out activities in peaceful use of nuclear energy on the territory of one of the parties. According to the Agreement the parties are to constantly exchange information related to nuclear and radiation safety at nuclear facilities of the two countries. The Agreement also contains the parties’ obligations to develop practical measures for implementation of their commitments including establishment of the exchange procedure and amount of the information about the current level of nuclear and radiation safety at the facilities of peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Also, on October 7, in the presence of S. Kirienko and E. Zakharyan two documents were signed related to the life extension project for Unit 2 of Armenian NPP: minutes of the meeting of the first Joint Coordination Committee and Acceptance Certificate for comprehensive inspection of the systems, structures and components of Unit 2 of Armenian NPP, and development of the program for preparation of Uni2 of Armenian NPP for additional operation period.

The minutes of the Joint Coordination Committee were signed by K. Komarov, First Deputy Director General for Corporate Development and International Business of Rosatom and A. Galstyan, Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of Armenia. Acceptance certificate was signed by E. Sal’kov, Director General of Rusatom Service, from the Russian side and M. Vardanyan, acting Director General of Armenian NPP, from the Armenian side. According to the certificate the Armenian side received 22 reporting documents that present the intermediate result of the Russian side activities in comprehensive inspection of the systems, structures and components of Unit 2 at Armenian NPP. More than 100 specialists visited the site and inspected over 4.5 thousand of equipment items of the plant.

The Joint Coordination Committee was established in March, 2015 for the purposes of implementation of the Intergovernmental Agreement on Armenian NPP life extension and is intended to ensure coordination of the parties’ activities, control of the Intergovernmental Agreement implementation and regular evaluation of the work results. The said meeting fixed the main intermediate results and further steps for implementation of the cooperation between the parties in the project.