Romanian nuclear utility Societatea Nationala Nuclearelectrica (SNN) has signed a €525m ($576m) contract to extend the life of unit 1 at the Cernavodă NPP with Candu Energy (part of AtkinsRéalis) and the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC), a federal state corporation. Entry into force of the contract, signed at the World Nuclear Exhibition in Paris, is subject to approval by the SNN General Meeting of Shareholders, with CCC receiving final approval from the Canadian government.
The contract covers the provision of reactor tools and components, as well as engineering and services. The signing ceremony was attended by Mary Ng, Canada’s Minister for Small Enterprises, Promotion of Exports & International Trade (responsible for CCC); Dan Dragan, Secretary of State at Romania’s Energy Ministry; SNN Board President Teodor Chirica; CCC President & CEO Bobby Kwon; AtkinsRéalis President & CEO Ian Edwards; and Joe St Julian, President, Nuclear, AtkinsRéalis.
"The life extension of unit 1, as well as the two future Candu units we plan to develop, will bring multiple benefits to Romania: the preservation of high-quality jobs as well as the creation of new jobs, investments in the community, an important contribution to the local and state budget, as well as projects for the local supply chain,” said SNN CEO Cosmin Ghiță.
Cernavoda is Romania's only NPP, and has two commercially operational Candu 6 pressurised heavy water reactors supplied by Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. Construction of the two-unit station began in the early 1980s. The 700 MWe Cernavoda 1 was commissioned in December 1996 and Cernavoda 2 in 2007. Construction of three more units began, but was stopped in 1990. Cernavoda 1&2 supply about one-fifth of Romania’s electricity. The Cernavoda 3&4 project aims to complete two further Candu 6 reactors.
Image courtesy of SNN
