Romania to build two more 700 MW nuclear reactors for electricity; in 2031, the power installed at CNE Cernavoda will be almost 3 GW

By RBJ
On Monday, the government adopted the draft law on the approval of the signing of the Support Agreement between the Romanian State and the National Nuclear Electric Company for the project regarding Units 3 and 4 of the CNE Cernavodă, the Ministry of Energy informs in a press release.
“It is a very important law, which I hope will be adopted as soon as possible by my colleagues in the Parliament, in order to move forward with the project of the new units from Cernavodă. Yes, Romania will become energy independent and, at the same time, we will ensure our energy security and reaching the decarbonization targets with the help of nuclear energy”, declared the Minister of Energy, Virgil Popescu.
The draft normative act submits to the Parliament the approval of the signing of the Support Agreement between the Romanian state and Nuclearelectrica in relation to the project regarding Units 3 and 4 of the CNE Cernavodă. So that Unit 3 will enter operation at the end of 2030 and Unit 4 in 2031.
The realization of the project will double the contribution of nuclear energy in the national energy system from approximately 20% to 36%, new jobs will be created in the nuclear sector, the supply chain will be developed, access to loans and financial support will be facilitated.
The Romanian state, through the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, will take the necessary steps to ensure the cooling water for the operation of 4 nuclear-electric units at the Cernavodă site, by completing stage II of the project “Improving navigation conditions on the Danube between Călăraşi and Brăila (km 375 – km 170)”.
Also, the Romanian state will order the necessary measures regarding the completion by Transelectrica, by the date of putting the project into operation, of the electricity transmission lines, which will allow the connection of Units 3 and 4 from CNE Cernavodă to the National Electroenergetic System and evacuation of the electricity produced by the project.
The project foresees the construction of two more CANDU 6 units on the CNE Cernavodă site, with a capacity of 700 MW/Unit (1400 MW/2 units). The first stage, the current one, started at the end of 2021 and represents the preparatory stage, which started with the capitalization and operationalization of the project company, Energonuclear.
On November 25, 2021, Energonuclear, the project company, signed the first contract with Candu Energy, a member of the SNC-Lavalin group and the Design Authority of Units 3&4 and OEM Candu (Original Manufacturer of Candu Technology). Within the contract, CANDU Energy will offer engineering services for the development and updating of some documentation necessary to start the CANDU 3&4 units project.
The second stage of the project (preliminary works) consists of carrying out preliminary works from Phase 1 of the IPC (Engineer, Procurement and Construction) contract and will last 18 – 24 months. In this stage, engineering works and market analysis will be carried out regarding the suppliers of equipment and services necessary for the implementation of the project. Also at this stage, the documentation will be submitted for obtaining opinions and approvals including from the European Commission based on Article 41 of the Euroatom Treaty. The third stage of the project actually consists in carrying out the works in the construction site, assembly and commissioning, stage estimated at 69-78 months. Unit 3 is expected to be commissioned in 2030, followed by Unit 4 in 2031.
The project, which has an estimated cost of seven billion euros, will have a clean energy contribution of 66% and will involve over 19,000 jobs in the industry.