RoPower Nuclear is the name of the company that will develop Romania's first small modular reactor project. The joint venture of Nova Power & Gas and the national nuclear firm Nuclearelectrica, was announced on 27 September with encouragement from the Romanian government.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has conducted its first ever Site and External Events Design mission to look into site selection for a small modular reactor. The three-day mission to Romania was conducted last month at the request of Nuclearelectrica.

Romanian utility Nuclearelectrica and Polish copper and silver producer KGHM Polska Miedź SA have signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in the development of small modular reactors. Both companies have previously signed agreements with NuScale of the USA on the deployment of its SMR technology.

Canada's Candu Energy has signed the first contract for the refurbishment of unit 1 at Romania's Cernavoda nuclear power plant. The extensive re-tubing of the reactor will take its operational life to 2060 and directly help enable net-zero goals.

The US government, working with NuScale Power, is to provide USD14 million in support for the Front-End Engineering and Design study for Romania's deployment of a first-of-its-kind small modular reactor plant as part of a flagship project launched at the Group of Seven leaders' summit in Germany.

The Memorandum of Understanding means that NuScale, Nuclearelectrica and E-INFRA will carry out engineering studies, technical analyses and licensing activities for the site of a former thermal power plant at Doicești, the location selected for Romania's first small modular reactor. 

Romania is committed to the safe and sustainable management of radioactive waste, a team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency has concluded. It noted opportunities for improving implementation including preparations for further disposal facilities for radioactive waste from nuclear fuel cycle activities.

A year-long, CAD8.4 million (USD6.6 million) contract will see Canada's Candu Energy prepare the licensing basis for two new Candu pressurised heavy water reactors at Romania's Cernavoda nuclear power plant. The signing was celebrated by the governments of Romania and Canada, as well as the USA.

A consortium including Italy's Ansaldo Nucleare and Romania's Reinvent Energy has been awarded a contract worth about EUR20.0 million (USD22.5 million) for the design, procurement, installation and commissioning of a research facility for the development of lead-cooled reactors. The Advanced Thermo-Hydraulics Experiment for Nuclear Application facility will be built at the RATEN-ICN research centre near Pitesti in southern Romania.

Romania's competition commission has said it will clear Nuclearelectrica's takeover of the country's National Uranium Company. CNU is a state company that manages Romania's uranium resources and reserves.

NuScale Power and Romanian national nuclear company Nuclearelectrica yesterday signed a teaming agreement to advance the deployment of NuScale's small modular reactor technology in Romania. The signing came a day after plans for the cooperation were announced on the sidelines of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow.

NuScale Power of the USA and Romanian national nuclear company Nuclearelectrica plan to construct a NuScale small modular reactor plant in Romania by 2028. The announcement came during a meeting yesterday between US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on the sidelines of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow.