Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian said that that work on the facility meeting modern safety standards will start “in the coming months.”
According to Vasak Taproshyan, a spokesperson for the Armenian State Procurement Agency, WorleyParsons has won the international tender because its bid contained a warranty policy on the plant.
Taproshyan did not reveal the amount of WorleyParsons bid to win the tender, he reported only that a relevant agreement would be signed to fix the final price in 15 days.
US and the European Union have support the ambitious idea in principle. The US government allocated $2 million in November 2007 for the first feasibility studies on the project which were jointly conducted by Armenian and US atomic energy experts in 2009. But US diplomats made it clear that Washington would not finance for the plant’s construction.
Armenia’s Deputy Minister of Energy Areg Galstyan said the winning bidder would be responsible for drafting a conceptual design of the new reactor and supervising its construction.
WorleyParsons is a provider of engineering design and project services to various sectors.
