Robert Kocharyan: “Russia is the only country with an operational modular nuclear plant”

During today’s press conference, Armenia’s second president, Robert Kocharyan, spoke about the construction of a new nuclear power plant in Armenia, emphasizing that he has been hearing discussions about this for the past 20 years.
“Except for Russia, currently no country in the world has an operational modular nuclear power plant. When the authorities say they are looking and go to Canada or Argentina — there is nothing like that. Maybe it will exist in five years, maybe. There is a small plant in China, but political parties are blowing smoke when talking about long-term cooperation,” Kocharyan stated.
Oragir.News spoke with energy expert Vahe Davtyan, who noted that Kocharyan’s statement is absolutely accurate in the context that Russia is the only country with an operational modular nuclear power plant.
“Russia is the only country that has a modular, small-capacity nuclear plant currently in operation. In this regard, the second president is more than correct, because Russia operates the icebreaker ship ‘Akademik Lomonosov’ in the Arctic Ocean, which is equipped with a small-capacity modular plant. This is the same reactor model that Russia is now offering to Armenia — the RITM-200N reactor.
As for other countries, for example, the United States is currently designing a modular reactor, which is expected to be commissioned in 2031. The Chinese also have a project currently underway, but it is primarily research-oriented. Regarding operational plants, yes, Russia is naturally the global leader and can be considered the only one at present,” the expert added.