March 19 (SeeNews) - The U.S. EXIM Bank and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation have committed to providing $4 billion (3.7 billion euro) for the construction of the Doicesti small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear power plant (NPP) in Romania, the US ambassador to the country, Kathleen Ann Kavalec, said.
EXIM Bank is set to provide $3 billion while the International Development Finance Corporation will contribute $1 billion, Kavalec said in a speech during an event held at the project site on Monday.
The SMR plant in Doicesti is being jointly developed by a consortium that includes Nuclearelectrica [BSE:SNN], the operator of Romania's Cernavoda sole NPP, and US-based NuScale Power, the company that developed the only existing commercial SMR technology approved by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. "This visionary project has the support of the highest levels of the United States government, both politically and financially and that’s why I am here today to personify that support," the US ambassador noted.
The consortium developing the project is aiming for a 2029-2030 completion timeframe, Romania's energy minister Sebastian Burduja said during the same event.
The Doicesti site was chosen for the project following an examination process financed through a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) awarded to Nuclearelectrica in early 2021.
Blue-chip Nuclearelectrica's shares traded 0.31% higher at 48.4 lei as at 1310 CET on Tuesday on the Bucharest bourse.
($=0.9220 euro)
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