Romania to lengthen lifespan of 1st nuclear reactor with $2 billion contract

Romania’s nuclear power operator Nuclearelectrica on Thursday awarded an estimated €1.9 billion ($1.98 billion) contract to extend the operation time at the Cernavoda nuclear power plant’s first unit.

Nuclearelectrica signed the deal with an international consortium comprising Canada’s AtkinsRealis, Italy’s Ansaldo Nucleare, Canadian Commercial Corporation and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co, the Romanian nuclear power operator said in a statement.

The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract encompasses detailed design, equipment procurement, execution of retubing works and refurbishment works as well as construction of the infrastructure as necessary for the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 Refurbishment Project.

The contract is subject to approval by Nuclearelectrica’s shareholders and the Canadian government.

‘Today, we have signed the final contract for the refurbishment of Unit 1 at the Cernavoda nuclear power plant, which we will be able to operate for another 30 years,’ Romania’s Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja said during the signing ceremony.

‘We already signed the contract for the construction of reactors 3 and 4 at Cernavoda,’ Burduja added.

‘We want to be pioneers in the development of small-scale reactors, we have already signed the contract for the feasibility study,’ he said.

• Cernavoda nuclear power plant
• Nuclearelectrica
• Romania