US President Joe Biden announced the allocation of a grant of 14 million dollars for the next stage of the development of small modular reactors (SMR) in Romania by US company NuScale – The Preliminary Front-End Engineering and Design study for the SMR project in Romania.
For the development of this study, electricity producer Nuclearelectrica and NuScale will cooperate with the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) in order to initiate a series of engineering and design activities and studies, as well further technical analyses of the potential site of Doicesti, which will provide Romania with essential data for the development of the first small modular reactor power plant in Romania. This information is essential to estimate costs, rigorously plan activities and define the project based on the national and international authorization and regulation applicable requirements. Also, potential suppliers of services and manufacturing and assembling in Romania will be identified during this stage.
Romanian Prime Minister Niculae Ciuca said that Romania is taking firm steps towards energy independence and becoming a net energy exporter. The US decision to finance the design of the small modular reactors in Romania is an essential step for the Romanian civil-nuclear field. In parallel with the development of the SMR technology, Romania will build units 3 and 4 at nuclear power plant Cernavoda. The production of nuclear energy contributes to the decrease of the pollution generated by the thermal power plants and to the increase of the degree of environmental protection, both being objectives agreed by the entire European Union, PM Ciuca added.
Nuclearelectrica’s CEO Cosmin Ghita said that NuScale’s small modular reactor technology, the first and only SMR technology to receive the approval of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) can support Romania’s decarbonization objectives, simultaneously supporting energy independence and our country’s prosperity. Through the partnership with the United States, by choosing a technology that is already approved and validated by a regulatory agency with long term expertise, Romania also makes sure that its projects in the field of nuclear energy respects the highest standards of nuclear safety. Moreover, with over 25 years of experience in operating at the highest standards two nuclear units, Nuclearelectrica is proud to contribute with its expertise to the development of the first small modular reactors in Europe and to be an example to other countries interested in developing their civil nuclear programs.
