Romania’s deputy prime minister Liviu Dragnea said that the long-delayed restart of construction of the Candu 6-based Cernavoda 3&4 reactors could begin next year, according to a report by the Romanian News Agency Actmedia.
Construction would be carried out by a Chinese consortium, Dragnea said, speaking at an official visit by China’s executive vice-premier Zhang Gaoli.
Dragnea said that a binding bid for construction had been received, according to the Actmedia report, and would be reviewed before the end of the year. At that point, a governmental memorandum will be signed to carry out the project.
In early September, Romania’s electricity utility Nuclearelectrica announced that China General Nuclear Power Corp was the only company qualified for the project.
Cernavoda 3&4 are 700 MWe-class Candu 6 reactors whose construction started in 1984 and 1985, respectively. The reactor system was designed by Romanian company FECNE, now part of Walter Tosto.
Picture: Cernavoda 3&4 construction site, from Nuclearelectrica