July 22 (SeeNews) - Romania's Nuclearelectrica [BSE:SNN], operator of the Cernavoda nuclear power plant, awarded Candu Energy, a member of Canada's SNC-Lavalin Group, a $64 million (63 million euro) contract for design and engineering services at the plant's Unit 1 as a step towards extending the unit's life, SNC-Lavalin said.
As part of the 2.5-year contract, SNC-Lavalin will provide engineering and early procurement services for retubing work to replace key components of the reactor core: fuel channels, pressure tubes and feeders, for Cernavoda Unit 1, which would see the reactor's operating life extended to 2060, the group said in a statement on Thursday.
The Unit 1 CANDU(R) reactor alone supplies 10% of Romania's electricity.
As part of the mandate, SNC-Lavalin will deploy specialised personnel from its nuclear business to the Cernavoda site to carry out the works.
Founded in 1911, SNC-Lavalin is a fully integrated professional services and project management company with offices around the world.
The Cernavoda NPP, located in southeastern Romania, has two reactors of 700 megawatts each. Its output cover around a fifth of the country's electricity needs.
Nuclearelectrica's shares traded 0.90% higher at 44.75 lei ($9.2/ 9.1 euro) as at 11.30 CET on Friday on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
($ = 0.9842 euro)
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