Romania's Nuclearelectrica kicks off works for refurbishment of 1st nuke unit

Civil engineering works on the infrastructure required for the implementation of the Cernavodă NPP Unit 1 Refurbishment Project kicked off on Wednesday, September 3, following the release by the National Commission for the Control of Nuclear Activities (CNCAN) of the construction permit for the Intermediate Radioactive Waste Repository intended for the handling, processing and intermediate storage of low and medium-level radioactive waste resulted from the retrofitting of Unit 1 and the long-term commercial exploitation of the Cernavodă NP Units 1 and 2.

State-controlled Nuclearelectrica (BVB: SNN), the operator of the Cernavodă nuclear power plant, signed last December the main engineering, construction, and procurement contract to extend the life of Unit 1 at the Cernavodă nuclear power station at a cost of about EUR 1.9 billion.

The contract is with a consortium of four companies, comprising Canada's AtkinsRealis, the Canadian Commercial Corporation, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), and Italy's Ansaldo Nucleare. The agreement still needs approval from the Canadian government and Nuclearelectrica shareholders.

At the same time, on September 3, the shareholder meeting at Nuclearelectrica approved the company's contracting of a loan worth EUR 540 million from a bank syndicate led by the American financial giant JP Morgan, to finance the preparatory phase of the project to refurbish unit 1 of the plant.

The decision was made on the same day that president Nicușor Dan inaugurated the renovation works on the site.

"Today we marked an important milestone for Romania’s energy security: the launch of the modernization process of Unit 1 at Cernavodă, in operation since 1996, and a new step toward the construction of Units 3 and 4. This is a major investment, worth over EUR 3 billion, which will strengthen our country’s energy security," the president said.

(Photo source: Facebook/Nuclearelectrica Oficial)