Romania's Nuclearelectrica and project company RoPower Nuclear have signed the Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) Phase 2 contract with Fluor Corporation for the Doicești small modular reactor project.

(Image: Nuclearelectrica)

The signing ceremony took place during the US Department of Energy-led Partnership for Transatlantic Energy and Climate Cooperation (P-TECC) summit - the project has received substantial support from both the Romanian government and international partners, including a significant grant from the US Trade and Development Agency.

Under the FEED 2 contract, Fluor will provide RoPower Nuclear with the design and engineering services required for the implementation of the project, at the end of which there will be an updated cost estimate and schedule as well as the safety and security analyses needed for a final investment decision.

Romania's small modular reactor (SMR) project is aiming for 462 MW installed capacity, using NuScale technology with six modules at the former coal plant site at Doicești, each with an installed capacity of 77 MW. The SMR project is estimated to create nearly 200 permanent jobs, 1500 construction jobs and 2300 manufacturing and component assembly jobs, as well as facility operation and maintenance jobs over the 60-year life of the facility.

Sebastian Burduja, Romania's Minister of Energy, said: "This investment has the potential to put our country on the map of the most important global centres of energy innovation. Romania aims to become an example for other countries in the region, where there are dozens of similar coal-fired power plants that could be transformed more quickly into nuclear power generation capacity - zero CO2 band production - using SMR technology."

Cosmin Ghiță, CEO of Nuclearelectrica, said: "We are thrilled to continue our progress with the Doicești SMR project. The continued development of this advanced nuclear project is a testament to the strong partnership between Romania and the United States, reflecting our shared goals of energy security and environmental stewardship."

Pierre Bechelany, president of Fluor's LNG & Power division, said: "We are pleased to continue our role in supporting this important project to deploy the next generation of nuclear power to produce clean and reliable baseload electricity for Romania and Europe. When completed, the plant will be the first of its kind in Europe."

As well as Nuclearelectrica, RoPower Nuclear, Nova Power & Gas (part of the E-INFRA group and joint owner of RoPower) and Fluor, Samsung C&T Corporation and Sargent & Lundy are also involved in works to facilitate the development and deployment of NuScale SMR power plants in Romania. Also this week, the US International Development Finance Corporation restated its interest in considering providing up to USD1 billion of financing for the project.