For 26 years, Romania has been saying Yes to nuclear energy, a clean and safe source of energy. The arguments of the specialists, in the debate “Nuclear energy, part of Romania’s clean energy mix”

The “Traditional Romania and Clean Energy” project, dedicated to national solutions for clean energy, continued on January 30, 2023 with an online debate dedicated to nuclear energy, entitled “Nuclear energy, part of Romania’s clean energy mix”. It was an edition that gave us pride and optimism, as our guests reminded us that we have a successful history of nuclear energy production and that there are specialists who can carry out future large-scale projects. We also learned that there is a clear strategy for the development of this sector, which enjoys solid international trust and continues beyond paper, by attracting important financing.

It is said that everything must be done in its time, and this time is perfect for investing in increased nuclear power generation capacity. This is one of the main aspects mentioned by Dumitru Chisăliță, President of the Intelligent Energy Association, who also had the mission of moderating this meeting. In the introduction, Mr. Chisăliță showed that there are 50 new nuclear projects underway around the world that will meet the ever-increasing energy requirements worldwide.

The guests present in the debate presented with professionalism, but also with perfectly justified enthusiasm, points of view on the future evolution of this field:

Teodor Chirica, President of the Nuclearelectrica Board of Directors, showed in his speech that the energy requirement is continuously increasing, by 2.1% per year. Therefore, it is very likely, according to FORATOM studies, that Europe will remain dependent on fossil fuels, if it does not develop its nuclear energy production capabilities. Nuclear technology is, along with hydropower, solar power and hydropower, carbon capture and hydrogen, among the means by which this dependence can be removed. The importance of atomic energy for the achievement of climate objectives and the transition to a sustainable economy has been recognized by the European Union, so that atomic energy has been included in the Taxonomy for sustainable financing.

For Romania, this type of energy represents a sustainable and efficient source, it contributes to energy security and development, because it is based on innovation and cutting-edge technology. In addition, our country has a solid foundation for increasing atomic energy production in areas such as engineering, construction, manufacturing, operation and maintenance.

Melania Simona Amuza, Deputy General Director, Commercial and Development Nuclearelectrica, showed that we are at a key moment in the history of nuclear energy, which has the opportunity to participate in the fulfillment of national and European decarbonization objectives. Also, for our country, it is a favorable time to create an integrated national production chain, with benefits for the safety and fluency of production.

It is important for Romania to succeed in achieving this goal, of developing the national program for nuclear energy, because in this way it will be able to amplify the benefits that this industry already offers. For example, as Mrs. Melania Amuza pointed out, this field contributes about 20% of clean energy in the national mix and an annual reduction of the amount of CO₂ by 10 mil t, nuclear energy representing 33% of the total carbon-free energy at the level national. In addition, the nuclear industry creates more than 11,000 jobs and important revenues to the state budget, which could grow in proportion to energy production.

At the moment, Nuclearelectrica is carrying out projects worth over 12 billion euros that will double the production of nuclear energy at the level of 2030/2031: the refurbishment and extension of the operating life of Unit 1 from Cernavodă, the construction of 2 CANDU units until 2031 (which we usually call reactors 3 and 4 from Cernavodă) and the development of the SMR type plant, small modular reactors.

Prof. Dr. Eng. Ionuț Purică, former President of the Romanian Nuclear and Radioactive Waste Agency, is one of the most important Romanian experts in nuclear energy. His Majesty began his intervention with an interesting presentation of the history of the nuclear field in our country. Returning to the current moment, our guest showed that Romania is once again taking over, and in this generation, the idea of introducing new nuclear technologies. Justified, because the Romanian industry has manufacturing capabilities and maintains its qualifications for such rigorous protection standards of this field. Mr. Ionuț Purică explained that this valuable experience deserves to be passed on and expanded through the new ongoing projects. The performances of the Romanian atomic industry were also confirmed by the USA, which considers that our country represents a viable platform for the implementation of new technologies and made the decision to continue collaboration in the field of nuclear energy. This is an achievement for Romania because our country can maintain its advance in the technological field through the nuclear industry. Fortunately, compared to other fields, in which Romania stopped production and research, the nuclear field continues to exist and produce energy, with benefits for local well-being, but also with prospects for future development.

DTSN Nuclearelectrica’s Principal Expert, Doctor of Engineering in Nuclear Energy, Dan Șerbănescu, emphasized that Romania has the necessary experience to carry out new nuclear projects, such as SMRs (small modular reactors). Thus, the SMR project, for which the candidate location in Dâmbovița county is currently being analyzed, represents a capitalization of the experience of over 26 years of operating at excellence standards of two of the most performing nuclear reactors in the world (at CNE Cernavodă) but also a capitalization of previous Romanian-North American cooperation dating back to 1968: Romania was the first Eastern European country to develop a reactor (in Pitesti), a fact that led us to align ourselves with American norms, which remained in force .

After this foray into the history of the Romanian-American partnership, Mr. Șerbănescu showed where the very high degree of safety of the 4th generation power plants comes from, which includes the SMR systems, which capitalize on previous experience in operating nuclear power plants. Thus, our guest shows that their fundamental feature is the fact that these reactors do not require an external power supply, so in the event of an accident they cool themselves. This system is self-protecting and has the ability to behave like the technical and energy systems of the future, which are fractal and self-regulating and can repair and limit themselves.

In the almost two hours of interventions, renowned specialists from Romania showed us that Romania is on the right track in terms of nuclear energy and clean energy in general and gave us confidence that we will be “on the wave” of the transition to green energy, with benefits for the present and the future.