Romanian state-owned electricity producer Nuclearelectrica and Nova Power & Gas have established RoPower Nuclear, the project company for the development of small modular reactors (SMR) in Romania, on the location of the former coal-fired power plant in Doicesti.
The project company, owned in equal shares by Nuclearelectrica and Nova Power & Gas, will take steps toward deploying the first NuScale VOYGR-6 (462 MWe) power plant in Romania by 2030. The power plant will use the NuScale Power Module technology of NuScale, the only SMR company which obtained design approval from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The installed capacity can also be supplemented with renewables amounting to a capacity of 80 MW, which would make the new energy complex exceed the capacity of the former Doicesti plant. The joint nuclear-renewable solution would represent not only an optimal production capacity, with the ability to vary output, but also a vision of the generation sources for electricity networks of the future.
The Doicesti candidate site was selected following an in-depth study based on a 1.2 million dollars grant obtained by Nuclerelectrica from the USTDA, to identify and evaluate the potential sites for the small modular reactors. Moreover, in August 2022, at the request of Nuclearelectrica, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) conducted a Site and External Events Design (SEED) review mission in order to assess the process that was followed in choosing the first small modular reactors (SMR) site in Doicesti, Dambovita county, Romania.
Nuclearelectrica’s CEO Cosmin Ghita said that the company is proud to develop a safe power plant that offers clean and cost-effective energy in Romania, bringing in the same time multiple benefits for the local community. With energy independence and energy security as the highest objectives, Romania will be a leader for the deployment of small modular reactors in the region and the new company, RoPower Nuclear an example of best practices in implementing the highest nuclear safety standards, performance and productivity, following the example set by NPP Cernavoda for more than 25 years.
