IAEA approves Romania's choice of SMR site - Nuclearelectrica

The IAEA Site and External Events Design (SEED) mission concluded that the Doicesti site, in the southern county of Dambovita, meets the organization's safety standards, Nuclearelectrica said in a press release on Tuesday.

The conclusion came as a follow-up to the SEED mission carried out in 2022 at the request of Nuclearelectrica, which requested an independent assessment of the site selection.

The SEED programme assists IAEA member states at different stages in the development of a nuclear power programme, including reviewing site selection, site assessment and design of structures, systems, and components, taking into consideration site specific external and internal potential hazards.

The Doicesti site was chosen for the project following an examination process financed through a $1.2 million (1.1 million euro) grant from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) awarded to Nuclearelectrica in early 2021.

Last month, during a conference held at the project site, the US ambassador to Romania, Kathleen Ann Kavalec, said that the U.S. EXIM Bank and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation have committed to providing $4 billion for the construction of the Doicesti SMR NPP.

The SMR plant in Doicesti is being jointly developed by a consortium that includes Nuclearelectrica and US-based NuScale Power, the company that developed the only existing commercial SMR technology approved by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The consortium is aiming for a 2029-2030 completion timeframe. RoPower Nuclear is the SMR project company, equally owned by Nuclearelectrica and Nova Power & Gas, a subsidiary of regional infrastructure corporation E-Infra.

In October, Nuclearelectrica said that the project for an SMR NPP has received approval from the Romanian National Commission for Nuclear Activities Control (CNCAN).

The Romanian state, through the ministry of energy, owns an 82.5% stake in Nuclearelectrica, while the remainder is in free float on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

Blue-chip Nuclearelectrica's shares traded 0.62% lower at 48.45 lei ($10.59/9.75 euro) as at 1345 CET on Wednesday.

(1 euro=4.9692 lei)