Romania's SMR site selection process gets IAEA approval

Wednesday, 10 April 2024

The IAEA Site and External Events Design (SEED) follow-up mission's conclusion was announced by Romania's nuclear power company Nuclearelectrica and RoPower Nuclear, the small modular reactor (SMR) project company.

The mission was requested by Nuclearelectrica to independently assess the process against the IAEA's safety standards, before moving on to the next phase of the site evaluation ahead of applying for a site licence at Doicesti, where a thermal power plant will be replaced.

Paolo Contri, mission leader and Head of the External Events Safety Section in the IAEA's Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, welcomed the steps taken to conduct "an objective, feasible and safety-oriented site selection process" and the request for a follow-up mission to the 2022 one was the "best evidence" of a "commitment to safety and to ... minimise the risk that safety issues discovered at a later stage may challenge the smooth and safe project implementation. The experience under development in Romania can be of great value for the nuclear community".

Nuclearelectrica CEO Cosmin Ghita said: "Nuclear projects, regardless of the technology, have one essential thing in common: nuclear safety, and we are keen on developing an exemplary project by using a high-level nuclear safety technology, rigorous site selection, complete and safe site-specific external events consideration. In addition to Romanian experts, we very much appreciate international objective, independent expertise to make sure that all safety-related issues are considered and addressed from the early stages of the project."

Melania Amuza, CEO of RoPower Nuclear, thanked the IAEA and Nuclearelectrica for reviewing the site selection process and said: "We believe we have a solid project, and the current IAEA evaluation gives us even more confidence ... We are also certain that current evaluations, recommendations, and studies will contribute and act as a catalyst for current and future SMR projects."

Romania's SMR project is aiming for 462 MW installed capacity, using NuScale technology with six modules, each with an installed capacity of 77 MW. The SMR project is estimated to create nearly 200 permanent jobs, 1500 construction jobs and 2300 manufacturing and component assembly jobs, as well as facility operation and maintenance jobs over the 60-year life of the facility.