Romania’s Nuclearelectrica signs agreement with US company for small modular reactor

Romanian state-controlled electricity producer Nuclearelectrica (BVB ticker: SNN) will join forces with US company NuScale Power to deploy the first small modular reactor (SMR) in Romania.

On Thursday, Nuclearelectrica CEO Cosmin Ghita and NuScale Power President and CEO John Hopkins signed in Glasgow the official documents of the cooperation agreement between the two companies, Agerpres reported.

The signing of the documents took place after the White House announced on Tuesday that the American company NuScale Power would build a small modular nuclear reactor in Romania, and Romanian president Klaus Iohannis had a meeting with the US president’s special representative for climate John Kerry on this topic.

According to Nuclearelectrica and Romania’s interim energy minister, Virgil Popescu, NuScale Power is the only company that has received the approval of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to design and develop a small modular reactor, an essential step in building and implementing SMR technology.

“Our country will become a regional leader in the supply of clean energy. Moreover, the coagulation of a local supply chain will allow Romania to become an investment hub and supplier of NuScale modules to other countries in Central and Eastern Europe,” said energy minister Virgil Popescu.

Nuclearelectrica’s shares climbed to a new all-time high of RON 44 on the Bucharest Stock Exchange on Thursday. The SNN shares have gained 16.6% in the last month and 167% in the last 12 months.

(Photo source: Facebook/Nuclearelectrica Oficial)