Romania to exit deal with Chinese company for new nuclear reactors

Romania’s Government will exit the deal with the Chinese partner for the construction of reactors 3 and 4 at the Cernavoda nuclear power plant, prime minister Ludovic Orban announced in an interview with Hotnews.ro.

“It is clear to me that the partnership with the Chinese company is not going to work,” Orban said, adding that the Government has already started to look for a new partner and financing for this project.

He also said that all the new projects in Romania’s energy sector will depend on the European Union’s Green Deal from now on, an initiative aimed at reducing CO2 emissions in the EU.

In 2015, Romanian state-owned electricity producer Nuclearelectrica, the company that operates the Cernavoda nuclear power plant, signed a memorandum of understanding with China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) for the construction of two new reactors (3 and 4).

On May 8 last year, the two sides officially signed the preliminary agreement on the construction and operation of two new reactors.

However, the cooperation between Nuclearelectrica and CGN became uncertain after Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis and U.S. president Donald Trump signed a joint declaration in Washington, on August 21, that mentioned, among others, a closer cooperation between U.S. and Romania in the field of nuclear energy. In September, former PM Viorica Dancila also signed a memorandum in this regard with U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry. Moreover, China General Nuclear Power Corporation was accused of nuclear espionage by the U.S. Government back in 2016.

(Photo: nuclearelectrica.ro)