Romania's Ministry of Energy, as the majority shareholder (82.5%) of the nuclear company Nuclearelectrica (SNN), the operator of the Cernavoda nuclear power plant, will have to decide in about a month whether to approve the company's final investment decision on the refurbishment of one of its two reactors (Unit 1).

The project involves the shutdown of the reactor for two years - in 2027-2029. At this moment, such a shutdown would create major problems as each of the two reactors supply nearly 10% of the country's electricity.

The Board of Directors of the company convened the general shareholder meeting for this decision on February 23.

According to a SNN document quoted by Profit.ro, if the final investment decision is approved, between April 2022 and December 2026, phase 2 of the project will take place, which consists in preparing the implementation (detailed solutions, component procurement, planning the implementation of activities, infrastructure construction).

Phase 3, which involves shutting down reactor 1 and carrying out the actual refurbishment, followed by the commissioning of the unit, will take place in the period 2027-2029, the document states.

Unit 1 of Cernavoda NPP was put into commercial operation on December 2, 1996, and ends its first operating cycle in December 2026, but the current 10-year operating license expires in 2023. However, according to the assessments made in 2018 by the plant's designer, Candu Energy, it is expected that unit 1 can be operated in full safety conditions until the end of 2026.

andrei@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Nuclearelectrica.ro)