Energy Minister announces contract signing for Doicesti mini-reactors

The Ministry of Energy and Nuclearelectrica signed today with the US Department of Energy the contract for the feasibility study for the future Doicesti small modular reactor power plant.

The feasibility study will be completed within 13 months, and if its indicators prove the system's productivity, the first modular nuclear reactor will be operational in five years, says Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja.

He said that such power generation technologies are needed to stabilize the national energy system and to obtain reliable energy at low costs.

Sebastian Burduja: We have the chance to be a pioneer in this technology, which means, on the one hand, a much shorter time to implement a nuclear project than a large-scale project like the reactors at Cernavoda, for example. It means lower costs as more modular reactors are built. There are very important economies of scale. It means the possibility to develop a production chain for the components that will be included in this and similar projects. It means the possibility for Romania to serve as an example for other countries in the region of how to transform a former coal-fired power plant into a nuclear-electric power plant, where zero-carbon and bandgap energy will be produced. This investment is also a lever to balance the energy system.

The contract was signed on the sidelines of the Transatlantic Partnership for Energy and Climate Partnership Forum in Bucharest.

Translated by: Radu Matei