The event in the European nuclear energy sector: Romania begins the design of the first NuScale VOYGR-6 SMR power plant

By RBJ
The Americans from NuScale Power and the Romanian company RoPower Nuclear (RoPower), owned equally by Nuclearelectrica and Nova Power & Gas, announce the signing of the contract for the Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) works, which marks an important step towards the implementation of a NuScale VOYGR power plants with small modular reactors (SMR) in Romania.
According to a press release from the Romanian nuclear power producer, the contract was initialed on December 28, 2022, and the FEED works that NuScale will start will define the main and specific site characteristics for a VOYGR-6 SMR plant that would be developed on the site of the Doicesti power plant.
“We are proud to move forward in our partnership with NuScale and begin in-depth analysis and project planning at the Doicesti site. The signing of the contract for the FEED works follows almost four years of collaboration, research and studies to ensure we select the safest and more efficient technology, as well as the right location. It also demonstrates that the partners share the same values and the commitment to build a greener and more sustainable future for the next generations,” stated Cosmin Ghiţă, the general director of Nuclearelectrica.
The project will span an eight-month period and will include the issuance of subcontracts for the environmental impact assessment and subsurface geotechnical investigation, site assessment and site-specific requirements for the standard design of the NuScale plant, as well as the development of an estimate of specific project costs.
“NuScale’s start of Phase 1 Front-End Engineering and Design works in partnership with Nuclearelectrica/RoPower keeps Romania on track to become the first country in Europe to benefit from safe, reliable and carbon-free small modular reactor technology “We are excited to enter this new phase of our partnership with Nuclearelectrica and RoPower as we focus on the next practical steps towards developing a NuScale VOYGR-6 SMR power plant in Romania,” said John Hopkins, President and Chief Executive Officer of NuScale.
Unveiled for the first time by US President Joe Biden as part of his Partnership for Infrastructure and Global Investment in June 2022, the start of these works represents landmark progress between NuScale and Nuclearelectrica, which aims to develop the first SMRs in Europe to contribute to the fulfillment of the regional objectives of energy security and decarbonization.
The start of the first phase of work follows the signing, in June last year, of a Memorandum of Understanding between NuScale and Nuclearelectrica to start carrying out engineering studies, technical reviews and authorization and licensing activities for the project.
NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR) has developed small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear technology to provide power for electricity generation, district heating, desalination, commercial-scale hydrogen production and other process heat applications. A NuScale Power Module (NPM) can generate 77 megawatts of electricity (MWe) and can be tailored to meet customer needs. Founded in 2007, NuScale is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, with offices in Corvallis, Oregon, Rockville, Maryland, Charlotte, North Carolina, Richland, Wash. and London, UK.
Nuclearelectrica owns the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant, which operates the two CANDU nuclear units, each with an installed capacity of 700 MW, and the Pitesti Fuel Plant, where the fuel bundles are produced.
The company contributes over 18% of nuclear energy in total energy production and 33% in total CO2-free energy production in Romania.