10 Oct (NucNet): Negotiations about the construction of two new units at the Cernavodă nuclear station in Romania are continuing between nuclear power operator Nuclearelectrica and China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) with an initial deadline for their conclusion of around March 2018, Nuclearelectrica said on 9 October 2017.
In August 2017, a general meeting of Nuclearelectrica shareholders approved the continuation of negotiations with CGN under conditions originally outlined in a memorandum of understanding signed in November 2015.
The meeting approved negotiations for an additional six months and they resumed on 13 September 2017, Nuclearelectrica said. The negotiations include key issues such as the establishment of a project company and its initial capital structure, pre-project work, permits and authorisations, fuel supply and decommissioning.
The Cernavodă nuclear station has two commercially operational Candu 6 pressurised heavy water reactors supplied by Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd and built under the supervision of a Canadian-Italian consortium of AECL and Ansaldo.
Unit 1 began commercial operation in 1996, after work had been suspended on a further four units in 1991. Unit 2 was subsequently completed and began commercial operation in 2007. Efforts to resume work on Cernavoda-3 began in 2003, and a new project company, EnergoNuclear, was established in 2009 to oversee the completion of Cernavoda-3 and -4. Initial partners GDF Suez, CEZ, RWE Power, Iberdrola, Enel and ArcelorMittal Romania subsequently withdrew from the project during 2011-2013, and the company is currently 100% owned by Nuclearelectrica.
On 28 September 2017, Nuclearelectrica shareholders approved the start of the first phase of a three-step refurbishment project for Cernavodă-1. The first phase, which will see the 650-MW (net) Candu 6 unit’s operating life extended beyond its original 210,000 equivalent full power hours, involves preparation of a feasibility study that will be presented to shareholders for approval in 2021. The actual implementation of the refurbishment project is scheduled for December 2026 to December 2028.
