Romania’s Cernavodă nuclear power plant has an impeccable safety record, IAEA head says

Mariano Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, recently visited Romania and noted that the country has a successful past when it comes to nuclear energy.

"The Cernavodă nuclear power plant is one of the nuclear plants with the highest capacity factors in the world and an impeccable safety record," Grossi said.

He also argued, after meeting Romanian energy minister Sebastian Burduja, that opportunities are emerging in the European energy market and that Romania has a definite role to play in the field.

The IAEA head believes that the Romanian government's desire to increase nuclear energy capacities is justified due to the country’s history in nuclear energy. "And I believe this supports your enthusiasm and that of your government to increase capacities in the nuclear energy sector and also to enter the area of small modular reactors. There are challenges, you've just referred to some of them, in terms of financing, but we addressed them a few days ago, in the presence of your President," Grossi emphasized, cited by Digi24.

Grossi also reminded that during the last COP28 conference, it was agreed that nuclear energy needs to be accelerated.

"The first nuclear energy summit took place in Brussels, where we were able to address these issues. Now, with a global consensus reached at the last COP28 conference in Dubai, nuclear energy should be accelerated. And I see that it is being accelerated in Romania. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the global nuclear regulatory body, stands by you, supports you at every step, and I am very happy that we can have these discussions," he said.

The IAEA head also met Romanian prime minister Marcel Ciolacu, with whom he discussed the close collaboration between Romania and the IAEA regarding the civilian nuclear program and the concrete prospects for deepening cooperation in oncological medicine and the energy sector.

Romania will develop two additional units at the Cernavodă nuclear power plant and is currently working on extending the lifespan of an existing unit, the government press release said.

Through the activity of national experts and with the support provided by the IAEA through the Technical Cooperation Program, Romania could also become a donor of expertise in fields utilizing nuclear energy, such as radiotherapy, research reactors, pharmaceutical research, metrology services, cultural heritage conservation, and planning and implementing emergency response, the prime minister added, according to the statement.