Infrastructure work begins for Cernavoda 1 refurb project

In December the company signed the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the estimated EUR1.9 billion (USD1.97 billion) refurbishment with a consortium of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, AtkinsRealis's Candu Energy, Canadian Commercial Corporation and Ansaldo Nucleare.

The inauguration ceremony for the civil works was attended by Romanian President Nicușor Dan and other ministers, the ambassadors of Canada, Italy and South Korea and the leaders of the consortium companies.

The country's president said: "Nuclear energy is and will remain important for Romania's energy supply and for our security and strategic autonomy. I am glad that this process of refurbishment of Unit 1 is starting. It is only the first step in a larger project that also includes the construction and operation of Units 3 and 4. These investments in nuclear energy are essential for our country. With them we will be able to deliver safe energy to the economy and citizens, without CO2 emissions, at reasonable and competitive prices."

Nuclearelectrica has received approval from Romania's nuclear regulator (CNCAN) for the construction of the Intermediate Radioactive Waste Repository within the Cernavoda site, which is designed to handle, process and intermediate deposit low and medium radioactive waste resulting from the unit 1 refurbishment project and long-term operation of both the existing units.

Cosmin Ghiță, General Manager of Nuclearelectrica, said: "Obtaining the building permit for the Intermediate Radioactive Waste Repository related to the development of the critical infrastructure of the Unit 1 Refurbishment Project, according to the schedule of this project, represents an essential step ... marking the entry into the stage of civil construction works. The expansion of the intermediate storage capacity of low and medium radioactive waste, according to CNCAN legislation and regulations, is an indispensable element for sustaining long-term exploitation in complete safety conditions. By refurbishing Unit 1, we will ensure another 30 years of clean, stable and affordable energy production, strengthening Romania's energy security and contributing decisively to achieving the decarbonisation goals."

Hwang Joo-ho, President and CEO of KHNP said the project was demonstrating international best practice by "pooling the strengths of each company based on partnerships between participating countries" and would be completed on budget and on time.

Candu units are pressurised heavy water reactors designed to operate for 30 years, with a further 30 years available subject to refurbishment. This includes the replacement of key reactor components such as steam generators, pressure tubes, calandria tubes and feeder tubes. It involves removing all the reactor's fuel and heavy water and isolating it from the rest of the power station before it is dismantled. Thousands of components, including those that are not accessible when the reactor is assembled, are inspected, and all 480 fuel channels and 960 feeder tubes are replaced during the high-precision rebuild.

Cernavoda is the only nuclear power plant in Romania and consists of two 650 MWe Candu reactors. Unit 1 went into commercial operation in 1996 and unit 2 in 2007. Most of the work on units 3 and 4 - like units 1 and 2, Candu-6 reactors - was done in the 1980s prior to the fall of the government of Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989. Work is now on-going to construct units 3 and 4, with scheduled commercial operation in 2030 and 2031.

The unit 1 refurbishment project began in 2017 and is currently in the second of three phases. This phase, due to last from February 2022 to 2026, covers providing the financial resources, negotiating and granting engineering, procurement and construction contracts, assessing, preparing and scheduling the activities to be carried out and obtaining all the authorisations and approvals necessary to start the project. The third phase, scheduled for 2027 to 2029, starts with the shutdown of unit 1 and includes all the work required on it and its recommissioning.