Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Siuka announced on Wednesday that the Romanian government has held talks with the US company Last Energy regarding the commissioning of an experimental prototype nuclear reactor to be built in Muvini, in the south of the country.
The US government has said that the US company is making small-scale nuclear reactors that generate 20 megawatts of electricity. They added that this project complements the investments already announced to install modular nuclear reactors.
This will allow the US company to operate this modular nuclear reactor within two years, which may expand its performance later, depending on the results, Ciuca said in a statement before the cabinet meeting on Wednesday. He noted that all this is aimed at achieving energy independence in Romania. In the meantime, he added, the focus will be on immediate action.
In this regard, he emphasized that at the Oltenia Thermal Power Plant, it is possible to operate another turbine in a relatively short time, which will increase the production capacity by 300 megawatt-hours, and therefore the electricity generation capacity there can be increased by at least 210 megawatt-hours.
Romania and the United States signed a trade partnership agreement last November to deploy small nuclear reactors in Romania. The agreement was signed between the US company NuScale Power and the Romanian state-owned nuclear company, which is trying to introduce modular nuclear reactors. In this sense, Europe’s first modular nuclear reactor will be built in Romania by 2028.
Opening photo: MTI / AP / Andreea Alexandru
