US Department for Energy representatives visited Nuclearelectrica’s Cernavoda NPP

Nuclearelectrica announces that it received today, at Cernavoda NPP, the working visit of a delegation of the State Department for Energy from the United States of America, led by Dr. Kathryn D. Huff, Deputy Secretary in office and Deputy Secretary for Nuclear Energy within the Department for Energy.

Dr. Kathryn D. Huff’s visit envisages the continuation of the cooperation based on the Romanian-US Intergovernmental Agreement initialized in Washington DC in October 2020 and recently ratified by the Romanian State, and implicitly, the start-up of this cooperation in time for the implementation of Units 3 and 4 according to the strategy approved by SNN’s Shareholders General Assembly.

Thus, according to the strategy, the development of Units 3 and 4 Project is structured in 3 stages derived from the international experience in the construction of new nuclear power plants: Preparatory Stage estimated to last 24 months in which technical, legal and financial assistance services will be contracted to shape the project; The Preliminary Works Stage, with an estimated duration of 18-24 months, in which the EPC contractor (engineering, procurement, construction) will carry out the critical engineering part of the project and the nuclear safety documentation. The third stage will be dedicated to the actual construction and will last 69-78 months. Based on these stages of realization, it is estimated that Unit 3 will enter into commercial operation in 2030, and Unit 4 in 2031.

“The Romanian energy system needs resilience and sustainability, and the expansion of nuclear capacity in Romania, in the context of the current transition to a clean economy, responds to these needs, leads to economic and social growth, supply chain development, a necessary requirement in the decarbonization paradigm. indirect creation of approximately 19,000 jobs at industry level, training of new generations of specialists simultaneously with the avoidance of 20 million tons of CO2 / year by operating 4 CANDU nuclear units,” said Cosmin Ghita, SNN General Manager.

The cooperation between Romania and the USA envisages the expansion of nuclear capacities as a firm solution to achieve decarbonization targets, both states being strongly active internationally in promoting nuclear technologies and nuclear innovation to respond effectively to the needs of medium and long term energy transition, in time, while maintaining the decarbonization costs at a sustainable level.