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Romania’s G7-backed small modular reactor notes progress in Front-End Engineering and Design

The US company NuScale Power and Romania’s RoPower announced the signing of a contract for Phase 1 of Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) work for the small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear power plant in Romania.

RoPower is jointly owned by a majority Romanian state-owned nuclear company, Nuclearelectrica SA and a private Romanian electricity, natural gas and green energy company, Nova Power & Gas.

The FEED work, which will be initiated by NuScale, will define the major site and specific inputs for a VOYGR-6 SMR power plant that could be deployed at the Doicesti Power Station site in southeastern Romania. The project will last eight months and includes the issuance of subcontracts to perform the environmental impact assessment and subsurface geotechnical investigation, the evaluation of the site and site-specific requirements for NuScale’s standard plant design and the development of a project-specific cost estimate.

In July 2022, Nuclearelectrica and NuScale organised a working meeting with the Dambovita County and Doicesti authorities, to discuss the project’s safety and deployment stages, the status of the project in the US and the now confirmed FEED study.

The project, worth 14 million US dollars (13 million euros) was included in the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment initiative, launched in June 2022 by the G7 leaders. As stated in a press release by Nuclearelectrica, the commencement of this work is a “landmark advancement between NuScale and Nuclearelectrica aimed at deploying the first SMRs in Europe to help meet regional energy security and decarbonisation goals”.

“NuScale’s commencement of Phase 1 Front-End Engineering and Design work in partnership with Nuclearelectrica/RoPower keeps Romania on the path toward becoming the first country in Europe to benefit from safe, reliable and carbon-free small modular reactor technology,” said President and Chief Executive Officer of NuScale, John Hopkins. “We’re excited to enter into this next phase of our partnership with Nuclearelectrica and RoPower as our focus turns to the practical next steps toward the deployment of a NuScale VOYGR-6 SMR power plant in Romania.”

”We are proud to advance our partnership with NuScale and start the in-depth analysis and project planning on Doicesti site,” added the CEO of Nuclearelectrica, Cosmin Ghita. “The signing of the contract for FEED work follows nearly four years of collaboration, research, and studies to ensure we select the safest and most performing technology, as well as the appropriate site. It also demonstrates the partners share the same values and commitment to building a greener and more sustainable future for the next generations.”

The commencement of Phase 1 follows the June 2022 signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between NuScale and Nuclearelectrica to begin conducting engineering studies, technical reviews, and licensing and permitting activities for the project.

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