Romania's Nuclerelectrica and Korean partner begin construction of detrification plant

Romania's state company Nuclearelectrica (BVB: SNN), the operator of the Cernavodă nuclear power plant, and Korea Hydro&Nuclear Power (KHNP) are starting construction work on the first tritium removal (detrification) facility in Europe at the Cernavodă site.

Last year, the estimated value of the investment was revised upwards from EUR 130.4 million to EUR 195.3 million, Profit.ro reported. In December 2023, Nuclearelectrica contracted a EUR 145 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to finance the project.

The detritification plant to serve the Cernavodă nuclear power plant will remove the tritium from installations, resulting in increased protection of the environment, in full alignment with Nuclearelectrica's and Europe's ESG objectives.

The plant will remove tritium from the heavy water of the CANDU reactors and installations at Cernavodă NPP. The resulting tritium can be further used for future fusion reactors and will be the first indigenous European source of fuel, using Romanian technology in partnership with Korea.

(Photo source: Facebook/Nuclearelectrica Oficial)