Nuclearelectrica: We are preparing the feasibility and bankability studies for the SMR project

A small modular reactor (SMR) project in Doicesti, Dambovita County, continues, as feasibility and bankability studies are being worked out that will determine an investment decision and the next steps, General Manager of the Nuclearelectrica Cosmin Ghita said at a conference on energy issues."The SMR project continues. We are in the Feed 2 phase at Doicesti, where we have both ongoing site assessments and the development of the plant project related to our grid. We are preparing the feasibility and bankability studies that can substantiate an investment decision and move forward with the next steps. When we have all the elements ready, we will submit them to the shareholders' approval for a final decision," said Ghita.He added that the development of such plants represents a fairly large opportunity, because in the European Union, if the pledged decarbonisation targets are maintained, and even if they were not - as many of the plants that use coal will reach the end of exploitation - this energy source will have to be replaced with another type of production, that can deliver energy continuously and can enter the system quickly enough to be able to offer control services and certain delivery conditions."That is, to fulfil those functions that the coal-fired power plants performed. (... ) At the moment, considering all types of energy, these functions are best replicated through this nuclear technology, which can offer a very good solution."According to Ghita, in the production of nuclear energy there is "a supplement" of energy security, due to the fact that it is resilient, it is not dependent on weather conditions, its dependencies being as low as possible."Nuclear energy comes to complement other types of energy that we have at the moment. In order to be able to cope with all the electricity demands that are forecast by the end of the decade and in the following decade - especially if we also take into account the phenomenon of data centres which are highly energy-intensive, industrialisation programmes currently being promoted at government level and other elements - we will need a surplus of electricity and that cannot be achieved by a single source alone. That's why we need a mix, and in this mix I see large nuclear power plants as being able to represent a backbone of the energy system, and SMR plants can come to bring those functions that coal-fired plants used to perform in a system that can be a little more volatile due to a larger footprint of renewable energy sources."Ghita added that Nuclearelectrica is engaged in a fairly large development project related to the decarbonisation targets pledged by Romania, which aims to deliver approximately 2,000 MW of clean energy installed by the end of the decade, or at least by 2032."In this regard, the projects to which I refer are those designed to increase power generation, such as the projects of units 3 and 4 of the Cernavoda nuclear-power plant, the project of small modular reactors and the refurbishment project, which add another 30 years of operation to unit 1. In addition, we also have the detrition plant, which is a project that helps improve the conditions on the Cernavoda nuclear power platform, and also those that are necessary for health, by developing the production of medical isotopes," Ghita told Energy Forum organised by Financial Intelligence.