Romania and Canada extend their nuclear co-operation

1 November 2018


OCNI and Romatom sign a MOUThe Organisation of Canadian Nuclear Industries (OCNI) and the Romanian Atomic Forum Association (Romatom) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for continued nuclear cooperation.

The MOU outlines several ways that OCNI and Romatom will continue to work together to identify opportunities for nuclear suppliers in Romania and Canada. It will also encourage and facilitate cooperation among Canadian and Romanian nuclear research institutes and universities on nuclear research, development, and education.

Units 1 and 2 at Romania’s Cernavoda NPP are 650MWe Candu 6 reactors, which began operating in 1996 and 2007. They supply almost 20% of Romania's electricity. Two further similar Candu reactors are planned for the Cernavoda site.

Romatom executive director Gheorghe Lucaciu said: "Romania and Canada are long term partners in nuclear energy beginning with the development of Cernavoda 1&2 which are among the best performing nuclear units in the world in terms of capacity factor since in-service. We are confident that future cooperation between our organisations will yield future successful projects".

The OCNI is an association of more than 200 suppliers to the nuclear industry in Canada, foreign firms providing engineering services and supporting Candu NPPs in Canada as well as Candu and Light Water Reactor (LWR) plants in offshore markets.  Romatom has more than 35 active member companies that work in nuclear power equipment manufacturing, construction, engineering design, and other services that support the nuclear industry in Romania.  

The MOU was signed at the end of the first day of a joint meeting of the Canada-Romania Nuclear Industry organised jointly by Romatom and the Canadian Embassy. The trade delegation led by OCNI included senior officials from 15 major nuclear supplier companies engaged in joint meetings with Romanian manufacturers as well as officials from the Ministry of Energy.

Meanwhile, Cernavoda owner/operator Nuclearelectrica said Cernavoda 1 will be closed in 2026 for refurbishing work that will take two years and will extend its life cycle by 30 years. The feasibility study for this programme will be completed in 2021 and the necessary equipment will be ordered several years in advance. The estimated value of this refurbishment is estimated at €1.2-1.5 billion, Agerpres reported. The costs are still two or three times lower than those for building a new unit, Nuclearelectrica representatives said.


Photo: From left to right: Mr. Lucian Rusu, Vice-President of Romatom and representative of Walter Tosto, Mrs. Mihaela Stiopol, Administrative Director of Romatom, Mrs. Marina Oeyangen, Director of Operations, Organization of Canadian Nuclear Industries, H.E. Kevin Hamilton, Ambassador of Canada to Romania (Source: OCNI)



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